The Four Boxes
by Emmylou
Summary: Four boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour. SydNige. FINISHED faints
1. A really bad start

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes effect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
"I'm late, late, late, damn!" Sydney rushed through her apartment, she'd turned it upside down in the last three minutes looking for her keys. She swore again as she laddered her tights.  
  
Racing back into her room, she quickly changed, still looking for her keys. She was beyond lateness, she should have been at work almost half-an-hour ago. It had not been her morning, her alarm hadn't gone off, she had forgotten to pay her phone bill meaning her phone had been cut off, she'd stubbed her toe, spent ten minutes trying to find her watch, and had finally scoured the apartment in rage after loosing her keys.  
  
The usually calm proffesser was in an awful mood, she had an urge to hit something, Nigel better not annoy her today because she could not be held responsible for her actions.  
  
Twenty minutes later she was ready to leave, dashing downstairs and into the car park. She climbed into the car and tried to start it. All she got in return was a sorrowful whine from the engine.  
  
"No, no, no! Why now? Why today?" The last part of her rant came out as a sorrowful whine that would have put the engine to shame.  
  
Furiously she stormed out of the car, and went over to a phone box, dialling a taxi number. Upset did not do justice to her mood, when the woman from the taxi company explained that there would not be a taxi available for forty minutes.  
  
Resigning herself to the fact that she was in for a wait, she sat down on a bench.  
  
An hour and ten minutes later the taxi pulled up, she could have socked the driver, who offered no apology for the wait, instead looking her up and down like a piece of meat. Scowling, the taxi pulled up to college, she thrust some notes at the driver, and dashed towards her office.  
  
******  
  
A bit short, I know, the next one will be longer I promise. Thank you for reading, please review. 


	2. at the office

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
"Good Morning!" Claudia's cheerful smile assaulted her as she walked through the office door. For somebody who was normally a morning person, Sydney now understood how people felt when non-morning people were faced with a cheerful happy person first thing in the morning.  
  
"Good morning Claudia, I know I'm late, have I missed anything?" She looked around the office, the only other person was Claudia "Where's Nigel?"  
  
Claudia frowned and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"I don't know, I thought you'd know. And you've missed your first class, the Dean was beside himself. A man called, he wants to talk as soon as possible, he said that he'd call back in twenty minutes." The blonde secretary settled down in her seat again.  
  
"What was his name?"  
  
"How should I know, he spoke really quietly, plus I had my hands full at the time."  
  
Sighing in exasperation Sydney walked through to her office, swearing when she knocked over an ornament.  
  
"It's just not my day today." She said smiling resignedly. As if to prove this point, the door to her office jammed as went to walk through, she shook it violently, put in all her weight against it, it then chose that minute to unstuck, nearly sending her flying through the door.  
  
She regained her balance, and gave the now open door a hefty kick to vent her anger. "When the man calls, put him through. And tell me when Nigel gets here." She went to slam the door, but thought better of it, and closed it gently instead. "I'll be glad when this day is over." she muttered, wondering where her TA had got to.  
  
Ten minutes later there was a gentle knock on the door, it was the knock of a man who has been warned that the boss is not in a good mood.  
  
"Um, morning Syd." Nigel slipped into the room closing the door behind him. "Sorry I'm late, it's been a hellish day." Nigel looked kind of rumpled, and still half asleep.  
  
"You look how I feel." She smiled warmly "What happened?"  
  
"Oh, you know when you have one of those days, where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong?" Sydney nodded "Well I've been having one of those. Who's this man that Claudia's been going on about?"  
  
"No idea, he's not called yet. I know how you feel, I'm having a day like that too. I was really late, and my car wouldn't start."  
  
"I'll take that, and raise you a collapsed bed, and a late bus." He sunk into the chair in front of the desk.  
  
"A collapsed bed?" She smirked "How did it collapse?" She watched as the Englishman blushed when he got her meaning.  
  
"Nothing like that! I just sat down on it, after the delayed flight back from Italy, and the nest thing I know I'm on the floor." Sydney tried to stifle a giggle, but failed miserably "Stop laughing! I don't know what you're laughing about, Claudia told me about your graceful entrance to your office." He grumbled moodily.  
  
Sydney's giggling was interrupted by the phone. She picked it up and spoke ito it.  
  
"Hello?" There was the sounds of a man talking on the other end, the conversation was short, Sydney finished it by saying "That's fine, in about half an hour then, okay, bye." She put the phone back down on the cradle.  
  
"That was Mr. William Matthews, he's curator of the museum that the box of gustopher was donated to. He wants to talk to us immediately, he'll be here in half an hour."  
  
"Why? There was nothing wrong with the box was there?" Nigel looked questioningly at her.  
  
"No, I don't think so, he wouldn't say. Oh damn! I just remembered, I have a lecture in five minutes, he's gonna have to wait for us." She grabbed her notes, and dashed out of the door, "tell Mr. Williams I'm sorry!"  
  
*********  
  
Thank you for reading, please review. 


	3. Cubicles and bad luck

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: SYLVY and Dramawriter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - The lecture didn't go that badly, the first thing that had gone right all day. When it was over she realised that she probably did not look her best, the chain of bad luck had not given her much chance to fuss over her normally excellent appearance.  
  
She had not counted on the cubicle door of the bathroom getting stuck, leaving her trapped in there. She jiggled the handle furiously, giving the door a final kick before sitting down to calm herself.  
  
"Well what do you think Kayleigh?" Two unfamiler girls had entered the bathroom; the one that was already in there, Kayleigh, she knew was in her class.  
  
"About what?" Kayleigh asked.  
  
"Professor Fox and her TA." One of the two unrecognisable voices spoke, if there was prizes for putting innuendos into words, this girl would have won hands down.  
  
Sydney fought back a groan, this was all she needed, to be stuck in a toilet cubicale, listening to people talk about her. Whoever was forcing this awful day on her, was going to be in big trouble, besides the fact that it had to be the most unoriginal setting ever.  
  
"What do you mean?" Kayleigh seemed to have no idea what they were talking about.  
  
"Well all I'm saying, is that this morning she was an hour late, and she didn't arrive in her own car. Then Mr. Bailey showed up ten minutes later, not in his own car either, plus he looked really tired." Sydney now realised she was wrong, the first girl would get second place in the innuendo contest, this girl was first.  
  
"Hmm," Kayleigh took this in "Well they do always jet of around the world together, plus they seem quite close, their kinda like Mulder and Scully." the girls giggled. Kayleigh seemed to have jumped on the Sydney/Nigel bandwagon.  
  
"Mind you," the second girl said as an afterthought "they'd get into trouble if they had a public relationship, some workplaces are strict about that kind of thing."  
  
"Yeah, ooh is that the time? I'm late for class, see ya." The girls filed out, Sydney waited until she was sure they were gone, before squeezing out from underneath the cubicle. Sighing she checked her make-up an then ran back to the office, hoping that Mr. Williams wasn't to upset about her being late.  
  
"Ah, Ms Fox, you're here." The man stood up and shook her hand smiling warmly. He was a small man, who gave you the feeling that he was a librarian. He had to be in his late forties. He'd been sitting chatting to Nigel amiably.  
  
"Sorry I'm late, I had an unexpected lecture, and then the door to the bathroom cubicle got stuck."  
  
"Yes, Mr. Bailey mentioned that neither of you are having good days, which is what I'm here to talk to you about actually." Both Sydney and Nigel frowned at this. "As you know, the box you bought me was made by a man called Gustopher, he was known as a great practical joker." They nodded "Well it seems that he did not just make one box, he just left the hints for one. Each box affects the people who find it different ways, until the boxes are together again, the people will go on being affected. The box leaves no hints at what is in store for you, other than that the first one gives you incredible bad luck. Which you seem to be experiencing. So," He said, removing the box from his bag, and placing it in front of them "I'll leave this with you."  
  
He nodded politly to them before turning to leave.  
  
"Thank you." They both chourosed.  
  
After he was gone they sat in silence for a while, thinking over what he had said.  
  
"So unless we find the next box, were gonna be stuck like this permanenetly? Well when do we leave? How come we never found out about this before?" Nigel was more that upset know that he knew that this bad luck was on him for a reason, and had no plans of stopping.  
  
"I have no idea, there was nothing like this in any of the texts we read." She picked up the box in front of her. It was small, no bigger than a jewellery box, it was ornately decorated, covered in pink diamonds with ornate carvings. She opened it up hesitantly, the inside was also covered in carvings. But there was nothing that could give a clue as to where the next one was.  
  
She handed the box over to Nigel, who took it inspecting it carefully.  
  
"Hello." He muttered quietly, in a way that showed he was on to something. "That's odd."  
  
"What?" Sydney leaned over, hoping that they had some kind of clue.  
  
"Look, in that corner" He pointed to a small area in the corner of the box "It looks worn, there's no carvings." Aprehensivly he pressed the area. Almost immediately a small area of the carving on the inside of the box slid back, reavealing three more carvings.  
  
"What are they?" She reached over for her glasses "It looks like, like, a globe. So these other two must tell us where in the world the next one is."  
  
"The next one looks like, I'm not sure, a gondola? Venice?" He frowned thoughtfully.  
  
"Well this one looks like a river or a canal, so I'm guessing that Venice is our best option." They jumped as the door opened and Claudia poked her head in,  
  
"That guy's gone, so I'm assuming you're off to some country somewhere. Do you want me to book a flight?"  
  
"Yes, um to Venice please Claudia." Claudia's eyes lit up.  
  
"Venice? Wow I always wanted to go to Venice; you have to tell me all about it when you get back, I bet it's dead romantic, you'll have to go in one of those boat thingies."  
  
"Yes okay Claudia, could you book the flight?"  
  
********** Okay, I think I should mention, that I'm only fifteen and no nothing about relics. I've never been to Venice, I've not been anywhere actually, so if I get anything wrong I apologise.  
  
Gustopher doesn't exist, at least not to my knowledge; he's named after my cat who's a real trouble maker, so it suited him. 


	4. Airports and hotels

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: aubiecat for the review. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
They both sat on what had to be the most uncomfortable seats in the whole airport, around them people sat flipping through magazines and attempting to read books, nearly every book was one of those trashy holiday romance novels that you undoubtedly regret buying eventually. Other people were trying to quieten restless children, or were chatting quietly amongst themselves. The whole place had that doctors surgery feel, where everyone sits as quietly as possible and tries to pretend that their not there.  
  
"Just our luck." Sydney muttered sarcastically, she shifted uncomfortably in the chair for the ninth time that minute. Nigel had long ago given up his chair deciding that the floor was more comfortable "Can you believe the flights were cancelled till further notice?"  
  
"All too easily, if I'd known that I was cursing myself to bad luck I'd never of tried to find that damn box." He was reading through all the research they could find on the boxes, which was very little.  
  
"Well at least it will be worth it when all the boxes are together again." She patted his shoulder comfortingly.  
  
"And of course that's all you're going out there for, not because you don't fancy eternal bad luck." He teased lightly, she smiled to herself.  
  
"Well, that too." She looked over his shoulder at the papers "I don't suppose you have any idea what the next box will do to us?"  
  
"No clue at all, but if it gives us good luck remind me to buy a lottery ticket." They both chuckled gently, enjoying the ease of their conversation.  
  
Sinking into relaxed silence again, they went back to waiting patiently. Two hours, three screaming children, one and a half cups of disgusting coffee, and two headaches later the airport announced that they were ready to leave.  
  
"Um Syd?" He held her back for a minute before they left "Just how much bad luck could we have, cos I don't want to die in an aeroplane crash."  
  
"I don't think the purpose is to kill us, Gustopher was just a prankster, I don't think he wanted anyone dead." Even so she looked a little more uncomfortable than usual about the flight.  
  
The flight didn't turn out as badly as it could have done; it still turned out badly, just not life threateningly badly. The airline hostess accidentally spilt hot coffee onto Sydney's new top, coming close to scalding her. Then the woman who was sitting next to Nigel turned out to be terrified of flying, she spent the whole flight clinging to his arm and hyperventilating about a prophesy of doom she had read in her horoscopes.  
  
If the woman had been ten years younger, Sydney would have been a little jealous, well not jealous, she thought covering quickly. Anyway the woman was getting more attached to him; he tried his best to be patient, which was hard when her inch long nails were digging into his arm. By the time the flight was over, she apologised profusely to Nigel, and then went on to tell Sydney how wonderful he was, and how he reminded her of her favourite nephew.  
  
"You know," he commented dryly when the woman had finally left his side "I think I would have preferred being scalded by the coffee." She giggled as she picked up her luggage.  
  
"I don't know Nige; you looked as if you had a friend for life there." She laughed again as he moodily picked up his own suitcase.  
  
By the time they reached their hotel about twenty minutes away from the city itself, it was late into the night; the trying flight had made them exhausted. Both silently prayed that nothing else bad would happen to them.  
  
It seemed as if lady luck was against them again, because as they pulled up to the hotel, they took in the flashing blue lights of the cars parked in front of the doors.  
  
Once they got to the desk through a surge of police officers, the manager explained in broken English that one of the rooms they had booked was not available.  
  
"Why?" Sydney asked, nearly ready to cry with tiredness and exasperation.  
  
"Because, the man who was in your room, has um, how do you say? Departed?" The manger looked worriedly at the pair when they didn't seem to understand "Um, died?"  
  
"Died?" Both Relic hunters chorused "How?"  
  
"He was um," The manager looked more than a little unhappy "Shot." The word came out as a faint squeak.  
  
"Shot? In my room? That's great, just great." Nigel looked about ready to collapse. The manager realised he was loosing his customers.  
  
"Look, look, I tell you what," He said quickly, hoping that they wouldn't leave, "I give you a room, the only one left, with a double bed, for half price!" This was not what they had hoped for, but both were too tired, too fed up, and too past caring to put up much in the way of protest.  
  
"Fine." Sydney snatched the keys, and they both made their way to the lift.  
  
********* Thank you for reading, please review. 


	5. Goodnight

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: arscapi for your review, they make me so happy!!!  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
Silently Nigel wondered just how this was bad luck, sharing a room with Sydney Fox was most men's dream, including his. But then, he thought, something bad was bound to come out of it, he'd probably do something embarrassing, like say something stupid while he was asleep, or grab hold of her, or sleepwalk. Damn! He wondered silently if the corpse next door would mind him sharing the room.  
  
They were both tired on the way to the room, so it had not been too awkward, but once they were inside, the uncomfortableness became stifling, as though the embarrassment became more intense when they were inclosed in the room.  
  
Unknown to Nigel, Sydney was also thinking about sharing with the dead guy. She'd stayed so close to Nigel over the last few years because they'd kept their professional distance, now she was going to share a bed with Nigel, and it made them both uptight and uneasy. Not that she hadn't noticed Nigel, it was hard not to, and even harder to ignore what she saw.  
  
The room was quite small, normally they wouldn't notice, but because there were two of them it made it seem tiny to the point of claustriphobia. A large bed took up most of the room, the green blankets that covered it were made into hospital corners. It seemed that the manager, terrified of loosing customers had forced the maids to make the rooms up excessively tidily. There was a small bathroom, also excessively cleaned, opposite the bed.  
  
Underneath the window was a couch, it was the same green as the blankets. And, due to their bad luck, it was only a two-seater.  
  
Dumping his suitcase on the floor, Nigel made his way over to the bed and grabbed a pillow and a spare blanket, placing them on the couch.  
  
"Nigel, you don't have to do that." She didn't know what made her say that, having him sleep on the couch would be less embarrassing for all concerned, but she didn't feel it was fair, plus that if she couldn't trust Nigel to share her bed, she couldn't trust anyone. "We're both adults, I'm sure we can cope for one night." She flinched at how clichéd she sounded.  
  
"Oh, well, okay. Um I'm gonna take a shower then, is that okay?" He blushed softly.  
  
"Sure, I'll have mine in the morning." She opened her suitcase, rooting through it for her night things.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, she heard a polite knock come from the bathroom door. She giggled before speaking.  
  
"Nigel you can come in, I'm decent." He poked his head round the door before stepping into the room "Honestly, you must be the only person to knock on the bathroom door to see if you can come out."  
  
"Sorry," He blushed even more "I just didn't want to come barging in if you weren't fully clothed, that's all." He took some files out of the bag. She was already in the bed, with paper littered over her lap. Her dark hair was tied back into a loose ponytail with wisps of missed hair falling around her face.  
  
"What are those papers?" She looked at the paper he was holding, as he rooted through the bags to find his laptop.  
  
"Just some work on these boxes, still nothing much though, I'm going to see if there is anything online. What about your papers?"  
  
"Ah, student essays, I didn't have time to mark the final ones, so I'm catching up now." He climbed in next to her, they were so focused on the work they didn't have time to feel awkward. She laughed quietly a while later muttering to Nigel "I think whoever wrote this should have taken creative writing." He took the paper and read it over, chuckling slightly.  
  
"I see they've taken the 'if you don't know, make it up' approach." He looked at the unmarked pile to her left. "How many more have you got to mark?"  
  
"Only about ten." The unmarked pile was considerably larger than the marked pile "It has to be the single longest, most boring work on the planet."  
  
"Tell you what, if we split the pile it'll get done a lot quicker." He gestured for her to hand over some of the essays.  
  
"No, you don't need to do that, you've already done your half of the essays already back at the college, plus you've already done a lot of work on the boxes."  
  
"I don't mind, if I find another dead end trying to find information I might cry, suddenly made up essays actually sound interesting." Before she had time to react he leaned over and grabbed the essays, completely forgetting that this would mean leaning over her. She jumped in surprise, shocked at his closeness. Thankfully he hadn't noticed as he was splitting the pile in half.  
  
"Th-thanks." She cringed, that shocked squeaky voice couldn't belong to her could it? "When we've finished these I'll help look for info on the boxes."  
  
They lapsed into silence as they got on with the marking, by the time they were finished an hour later neither were awake enough to do any more research.  
  
They put the work away, laying back, and switching of the lights. Neither of them were finding it as embarrassing as they expected, although they were sure that it was being saved for the morning.  
  
After laying in the dark for a few minutes, debating whether to say anything, Nigel spoke.  
  
"Night Syd." His voice sounded sleepy, there was no reaction from Sydney, and for a minute he was afraid that she hadn't heard, before he heard her soft nearly half-asleep voice.  
  
"Night Nige."  
  
**************  
  
A bit mushy, I know, but what can I say, I'm just a big romantic at heart.  
  
Thank you for reading, please review. 


	6. Good Morning!

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: Beth, snaggle, and Dramawriter for your reviews, I'm so glad you bothered to take the time to send one.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
Nigel opened his eyes, as soon as he remembered where he was he slammed them shut again. If he had his eyes shut he was still technically asleep, and therefore couldn't be blamed for any potentially embarrassing things.  
  
From the millisecond he'd had his eyes open he could tell that Sydney was still asleep, that was a blessing at least, it meant she hadn't had time to mull over any embarrassing incidents, unless she woke up in the night. He started to panic silently at all the things that could have happened while he was asleep.  
  
He made a silent check that all his limbs were where they were supposed to be, i.e not touching the woman next to him. Once the check was complete he risked opening his eyes and glancing at the clock, 6.50, they'd have to get up soon anyway.  
  
Sitting up as gently as he could, so as not to disturb her, he climbed out of bed and went over to the small kettle and cups that were provided for making drinks. He made a cup of tea for himself, and then coffee for Sydney. Damn, they only had two packets of sugar, Sydney always had two, anything less would be sure to put her in a bad mood. Oh well he needed to cut down on sugar anyway.  
  
Taking the coffee over to her bedside table, he placed it down and then began to wake her softly.  
  
"Syd? C'mon Syd, wake up." His voice was quiet so as not to wake her up too harshly.  
  
"Mmm," She moaned, starting to wake "Nigel," it was almost a whisper and as soon as it left her mouth she froze, eyes snapping open. "Nigel!" She sat up a lot quicker than normal, shocked at him having heard her. "Um, oh, um, g'morning." she finished lamely.  
  
"Morning." He said, feeling much more cheerful now that she didn't seem to be reminding him of things he had said or done in the night. "I made you coffee." He indicated the cup.  
  
"Thanks." She reached out and took a big gulp of the sweet drink, feeling much more awake.  
  
"I'm just going to get dressed, won't be a sec." He grabbed his clothes and entered the bathroom.  
  
Once he was gone she leaned back into the pillow, sighing in relief. At least she hadn't done anything ridiculous like moaned his name in her sleep, of course she done it while she was nearly awake, but he hadn't noticed. She finished the coffee, glad that he'd thought to make her some, he might never look at her again in the same light if he saw what she looked like first thing, without the aid of coffee. She shuddered at the thought.  
  
She stood reluctantly, taking the empty cup back to the table. Nigel's tea sat pretty much untouched, she left it where it was in case he wanted it when he got back.  
  
She set her clothes out on the bed, and then flipped through his notes. As he'd said there wasn't much, but there were a few promising leads. Underneath his handwritten comments and ideas she scribbled a few of her own. She was so engrossed in this task that she didn't notice him come out of the bathroom.  
  
"Bathroom's free." He called gently, rousing her from her work.  
  
"Hey, I was thinking, there a couple of people in the area who might know something about the boxes, maybe we should call them, they might know something." He looked over her shoulder at the names recognising a couple.  
  
"Sure, do you want me to do that now?" She nodded gathering up her things, and exiting to the bathroom.  
  
She left it twenty minutes later, just in time to hear Nigel finishing up a telephone conversation.  
  
"That was the current ancient studies expert at the local university, he's heard of these boxes before, well actually only the first, he was as surprised as anyone to find out there are more. He's given us a couple of places that would be about the right age, and a few other experts to call."  
  
"Well at least something is going our way." She joked lightly "Any luck on the internet?"  
  
"No, very few people have heard of it. It's been mentioned on a few pages, but nothing helpful." He sighed flipping through the small amount of information he'd found. "There's got to be some more clues, what the point in making the stupid prank, unless you can find the next part?"  
  
"I know, let's go out into the city, see if we find any clues. Maybe there's someone who'll know something about it." She grabbed her coat, heading to the door.  
  
"With our luck, it'll be a miracale if we don't drown." But he likewise grabbed his jacket.  
  
*******************  
  
Thank you for reading, please review.  
  
Next chapter, they find the box! 


	7. Antique shops, theives, and handcuffs

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: Amy, and SYLVY for your reviews!  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
They actually enjoyed the morning, Venice was always a beautiful city, even when you are down on your luck. The architecture was amazing, and they relaxed, it was not often that they got to enjoy the places they visited.  
  
They wandered around, taking in the sites, before stopping for breakfast. They had called a few more professors, but had come up with nothing new.  
  
As they were wondering down the street, which was now filling up with tourists, they glanced into the shops. There was one they hadn't looked into at first; it was small, a shop that had been there as long as anyone remembered, the sort that gets passed down by families. They didn't notice it at first, mainly because the window was so tiny it looked like an ordinary house. The sign offered no help to what it sold either, so out of curiousity more than anything else, they went inside.  
  
Inside it was as small and dingy as the outside, the little ornaments and trinkets at first screamed it was a lady's parlour, before they realised it was an antique shop. They both offered smiles to the woman sitting at the desk, who smiled back with a look of perpetual boredom, before returning to her book.  
  
They glanced over the objects, not really paying attention. Sydney was looking at a strange teapot that had all the markings of a fake, when she walked right into Nigel's back. He stood frozen, looking at something in the corner of the room.  
  
"What's the matter Nige? What is it?"  
  
"Is that what I think it is?" He pointed to a small object that glinted happily in the sunlight from the window. She frowned and moved over to it. It was small, ornately decorated, and was decidedly box shaped. She couldn't believe it, it couldn't be. She picked up the box, finding the worn spot in the corner. With a little clink the silver slid back, revealing three more carvings.  
  
"It is!" she whispered, more in shock than anything else.  
  
"Um, miss where did you get this box?" Nigel walked over to the girl at the counter. She smiled thinly at him.  
  
"Oh, my bosses got it, it was sold to them." She then went on to tell them the price, which wasn't too horrendous. They quickly paid up, leaving to head back to the hotel.  
  
"That has to be the first ancient relic I've found in an antique shop." She laughed, looking down at the bag. "So does this mean we'll not be affected? Since we didn't find it?"  
  
"I don't know, I don't feel any different, but I didn't feel any different before either." He glanced back at the shop "If only they were all that easy." Both paused realising just how easy. "This is gonna sound stupid, but do you think that was too easy?"  
  
"Yeah, whatever this one does must be pretty awful if we found it so easily. Maybe it only works if you have the previous boxes, that's why nobody else has been effected."  
  
"Well whatever's going to happen, I don't think we'll enjoy it." Looking suspiciously at the bag, they both made there way back to the hotel.  
  
Dashing back up to their rooms, they slammed the door behind them, and took the box out of the bag. The room had been cleaned by the room service.  
  
"Hey, our lucks changed." He smiled and held up four packets of sugar that had been left for them.  
  
"Maybe not." The voice was harsh, it was British like Nigel's, but was more menacing, and where Nigel's was middle class, this was a lower class growl.  
  
The man was holding a gun, and it was aimed directly at Syd, not close enough for her to knock it out of his hands. He stepped out of the bathroom, followed by a woman. Both were attractive, with blonde hair, although bleached in his case. He gestured for the woman to go over to the table.  
  
As soon as she did, she snatched up the box.  
  
"This is fine." she called. Her American accent a startling contrast to his own. "I don't know what this'll do to you, but I know that either you, or some museum will pay a bomb to get the missing one. Neither Sydney or Nigel had moved an inch, they were not used to this direct approach, they were more used to being trailed, or betrayed.  
  
"On the bed." He waved his gun toward Sydney, the woman took her own gun out, before taking Sydney's wrists and attached handcuff to them effectively handcuffing her to the bed. She gestured for Nigel to climb on the bed, and then repeated the process with a second pair.  
  
Pocketing the box, she turned to leave, the man following behind her.  
  
"Bye!" He called mockingly, slamming the door behind him.  
  
***********  
  
Thank you for reading, please review.  
  
Next chapter, we find out how they are affected!! 


	8. Hairpins and kissage

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me! The whole pin idea was taken from an episode of Due South; I think it was called 'all the queens horses' but I don't own it.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you:  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
The door slammed, and they both lay still for a while, hoping it was all just a strange nightmare. The room seemed a lot warmer that it had been before, and although the room had been stifling with awkwardness before, now it was with embarrassment.  
  
"We'll going to have to call for help." This idea didn't seem the very appealing.  
  
"And have to face the look on the persons face? I'd die of embarrassment on the spot; it's just a blessing that the room service has already been in. It'd be awful, they'd be bound to call in someone else, and then they'd be whispering and giggling, and we haven't got a key, so they'd have to call in the fire brigade, and then there would be that knowing smirk on the men's faces. Forget it; I'd rather stay here permanently." Nigel was babbling, slightly panicked.  
  
Sydney had to admit, it would be an awful situation to be in, but no worse than being chained to the bed indefinitely.  
  
"This isn't important anyway." She added uncomfortably, the room seemed to be getting hotter "we should be worrying about the next box, we wont find it without the clues. It's a blessing we haven't been affected. Do you feel any different?" Their speech was quick and babbled, as though they were forcing the words out.  
  
"Not important? What do you mean not important? We're handcuffed to a bed! How is that not important?!"  
  
"Calm down! We need to get undone; I don't suppose you have a key?" He gave her look that said all to clearly 'of course I have a key, I'll just take the handcuff keys that I carry round at all time out of my pocket shall I ?OF COURSE I HAVEN'T GOT A KEY!' "Okay stupid question. Any better ideas?"  
  
"Are you wearing a hairpin in your hair?" The question came out of the blue, she frowned.  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"We can use it to pick the lock." She grinned at this good idea, carefully as possible she angled herself so she could reach the pin with her hands, to do this she had to balance on one knee, without the assistance of her arms. She managed to grip the pin in one hand, but just as she got hold of it, she slipped and fell back down, dropping the pin down the back of the bed.  
  
"DAMN! I was so close!" She laid back down in defeat, feeling uncomfortable because of the heat, and her position. Nigel moved as if to comfort her, but couldn't do much because of his lack of hands. Still she found his closeness comforting, although it just made her feel warmer.  
  
She had no idea it could get so hot in Venice, it hadn't been this hot earlier she was sure. The heat was making her more aware of every movement that either she or Nigel made, and her breathing was fast and heavy. It actually wasn't that unpleasant, if she'd had the full movement of arms she'd be quite happy to stay here with Nigel all day.  
  
"Have you got any more pins?" His voice was sleepy and relaxed too, almost a purr, as though he was only asking because he had too. She sighed contentedly; she could listen to that voice all day.  
  
"Yeah." It was more a sigh, Nigel bit back a groan. It was as if he was seeing everything through a haze. The heat and smell of her perfume mingled and made him want to kiss her. He moaned slightly as she smiled at him, he had an urge to look behind him to check it was really him she was smiling at. He realised he was supposed to say something.  
  
"Err, can you reach it?" Her eyes were half closed, and she forced herself to shake her head, no.  
  
His eyes settled on her neck, which was exposed due to her awkward position. He found himself drawn to it, unable to look away.  
  
"You'll have to get it." She gulped; his eyes were on her, staring at her neck. She groaned out loud, as she imagined him trailing kisses down it. He was still very close to her, but their bodies weren't touching.  
  
"How?" He tried to think clearly, forcing all Sydney related thoughts out of his mind. It was a lot harder than it was normally, but then normally he wasn't handcuffed to a bed right next to her.  
  
"Your teeth?" She also tried to keep her lusty thoughts out of it, failing, but at least trying.  
  
"Okay" He whispered, trying to keep his body under control at this thought. To reach the second pin he'd pretty much have to climb on top of her.  
  
As if in slow motion he did this, careful not to brush against any important parts. Delicately he reached over to behind her ear, searching for the pin. Her breathing was heavier now then ever. After ten seconds of searching, he found the pin, and then gripped it with his teeth, lifting it up, while being careful not to pull her glossy hair.  
  
He moved away from her as gently as possible, which was difficult when he was still tied to the bed. Accidentally his knee brushed over her thigh, causing her to groan a lot louder than she'd thought she had. He jumped in surprise, worried that he'd hurt her. In the shock the pin slipped from his mouth, landing in the hollow of her breasts. They both froze; realising what had happened.  
  
"It's okay" she mumbled happily.  
  
Softly as possible he reached down to where the pin was. His closed his eyes at the sensation of her heartbeat, which seemed to be beating so fast it was humming. Purposely he missed the pin, kissing just below it, the repeating the process above it. She groaned and then ground her hips into his. He gasped in surprise, trying to control himself.  
  
Grasping the pin, he moved up to her mouth, their lips brushing as she took hold of the pin with her own mouth. Rolling off her, he collapsed next to her, breathing heavily.  
  
Determined to be free again, she passed the pin into her hands. A few seconds later there was a gentle click as her hands became free. Once she had the use of her hands back she moved over to Nigel, who squirmed as she unlocked him.  
  
Once they were both free, they collapsed into each others arms with relief, there heads close together. Tenderly he started running his fingers up and down her arm, and she groaned into his shoulder.  
  
As one they opened there eyes and moved their head closer together, their lips brushed past each other. Closing their eyes again, the sweet kiss deepened and became more passionate.  
  
Twenty miles away, in the thieves' bag, the second box of Gustopher started to glow.  
  
***************  
  
Sorry about that, I'm really bad at writing romance scenes, after all I'm not really old enough. Anyway, if any-one wants to write an R or a NC-17 version of this chapter (Or what happens next), that'd be great, just tell me about it first!  
  
Thank you for reading, please review 


	9. To Paris!

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me! The whole 'you're too far away, don't leave me' line is from the Buffy episode 'Wild at Heart' It's when Buffy is trapped in a lust spell with Riley *Shudders in horror* Joss whedon wrote that, not me, but the rest is mine!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
"Mmm." She moaned with pleasure as she woke up, "Morning." It was no more than a whisper, she turned to Nigel who had been trailing kisses down her throat to wake her.  
  
"Morning." He reached in for another kiss. After nearly five minutes of kissing she pulled away reluctantly.  
  
"What time is it?" She looked towards the clock, it was nearly six, they had another hour before they had to get up. As soon as she'd looked at the clock she brought him closer again.  
  
"Shame about the box." He murmurd, not really that interested in it anymore.  
  
"Yeah, shame." barely hearing what he said. Feeling she was supposed to say something else she asked "I wonder what it did?" Now that they were having a conversation that didn't consist of making out or more, they moved away a little bit.  
  
As soon as Nigel was away from her, she felt as though she wanted to cry. Her whole world seemed to collapse, all her confidence slipping away like water through her fingers. The more she tried to look self assured the worse she felt, to someone who prided herself on her confidence this was disturbing. It felt like someone had died, she was mourning the loss of a man who was a few inches away from her.  
  
In a panic she moved closer to him again, he must of felt the same way because he moved to her at the same time.  
  
"Too far away, you're too far away." She pulled him closer.  
  
"I'm here, I'm here, don't worry." He seemed to be reassuring himself as much as he was her.  
  
"Don't leave me!" She pulled him closer.  
  
"Never, I promise." They kissed again.  
  
"Maybe." Kiss "The box." Kiss "Is making us." Kiss "Lusty." Kiss.  
  
"Yeah," He groaned "Maybe."  
  
"I like it already." She giggled.  
  
"We" Kiss "Ca~" Kiss "Can't stay like this forever." The last part came as a rush  
  
"We can try though."  
  
"Mmm." He agreed. Suddenly a loud ringing interrupted them. Both glared at the offending telephone, trying their best to ignore it. After the ninth ring, the person gave up. Both sighed with relief. Until it started ringing again.  
  
"Go away!" She shouted to the world in general, although mainly to the unanswered telephone. Growling in anger she gritted her teeth against the emotional agony, and moved away from Nigel towards the telephone.  
  
"HELLO!" She yelled in fury, wanting nothing more than to climb back towards Nigel.  
  
"Hey Syd, it's me Claudia, you phoned on the way back to the hotel after you found it, I'm assuming you've figured out where to go to next, so if you tell me where I'll book the flight." Every word seemed to be in slow motion to both listeners, who wanted nothing more than to slam the phone down.  
  
"oh, um where too next? Where to?" She was talking mainly to herself, barely coherent she murmured "Hang on." She moved towards Nigel again, while holding the phone as far away from her as possible. Sweetly she kissed him, desperate not to let go again as warm relief flooded her. "Where to?" She muttered in between kisses.  
  
"Paris, there was an Eiffel tower on the box, I saw it." She managed to get her head together enough to think about it.  
  
"The box was made 400 years before the Eiffel tower was built."  
  
"That's what was there." He said nochantly. She nodded desperate to get Claudia off the phone  
  
"Paris." She spoke the word into the phone before slamming it down.  
  
Back at the college Claudia frowned as the line went dead.  
  
"Hello, Syd?." She pushed the button down "Hello?"  
  
***********  
  
Short and sweet. I've already mentioned my badness at writing romance scenes, I could probably write an R chapter, but come on, my parents are sitting 3 feet away!  
  
Thank you for reading, please review! 


	10. Even more Kissage and proposals

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: Beth, Bil, fan_kitty, chibiusaxoxox, and C.J Sandiego for reviewing. I know it's been forever since I updated, but loads has been going on.  
  
***********  
  
Getting to Paris had been hell. The only way of getting there was by flight. This meant that they were stuck in an aeroplane for three hours unable to touch the other. It hadn't helped that they had to sit almost three seats away from the other. When they'd asked the lady sitting next to Sydney whether she would consider switching places with Nigel, she had flatly refused. Sydney had managed to pull herself together enough to know that hitting her wouldn't fix things.  
  
For the next three hours they had sent each other lusty glances, smouldering looks, and blown kisses. The adorable little wave he'd sent her earlier was enough to make her want to go over there and throw herself at him. Not that she needed much encouragement as it was.  
  
If she hadn't known how cliché it was and how often the people who did it got caught, she would have seriously considered slipping into the bathroom with Nigel for a few minutes. So they settled for shifting uncomfortably in their seats, staring at each other and praying that the flight ended quickly.  
  
Four hours after they took off they were free from the airport and in Paris.  
  
"Paris really is the most romantic city in the world." She sighed as they got a really good view of the Eiffel tower when their taxi drove past. It had been year since she'd really been able to visit the city while she was in a relationship, but here she was with Nigel, in love, and without a care in the world.  
  
A vague part of her memory reminded her that they were here for a reason but she pushed it back. Why spoil such a perfect time? All she really wanted to do was to get a hotel room, go inside it, and not come out for ever.  
  
Now she was back in Nigel's arms she wondered how she had actually coped on the flight. Just the thought of being inches away from her made her want to be sick. He same to be thinking the same thing, because as soon as she snuggled closer he reached down and captured her mouth in another sweet kiss.  
  
God! Could the taxi driver go any slower if he tried?  
  
After what seemed like forever in both their minds he finally pulled up outside a classy looking hotel. Right now Sydney wouldn't have cared if it was a rat and cockroach infested cesspit as long as it had a bed.  
  
After fumbling around in her bag and giving the driver a tip he didn't deserve they managed to stumble to the hotel. If it hadn't been for the fact that Nigel chose that moment to kiss her she would have murdered the receptionist when she was handed an enormous pile of paperwork.  
  
The room they'd rented was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen if only because of the wonderful looking bed under the window. In union they slammed the door behind them as dived for the bed as one.  
  
****  
  
The phone woke her up.  
  
Sydney lazily reached for the phone, snuggling deeper into Nigel's arms. Beside her he moaned in his sleep, the phone not having woken him up. Absently she trailed her fingers along the muscles of his arms.  
  
Talking to someone else felt wrong, like they were the only two people in the world and aliens had just landed. The only person she should be talking to or be with was Nigel.  
  
"Hello?" She asked finally.  
  
"Hi Syd it's me Claudia, had any luck with the boxes?" She was about to snap at Claudia and say that she hadn't had the chance, but realised that from Claudia's point of view she HAD had chance, she wasn't to know that Syd had not left the bed in, she glanced at the clock, fourteen hours.  
  
"Um, no. We're working on it." She admitted finally.  
  
"Well I must say, I'm glad you're in a better mood than you were the other day. I mean there was no need to shout at me like that. So what's Paris like? Is it romantic?" Sydney was about to say yes when Claudia spoke again. "Not that you've had the chance to be romantic with anyone, after all you've been working." Sydney who had stopped paying attention murmured into the phone.  
  
"Chance would be a fine thing." She started tracing her fingers along Nigel's chest as she blocked out Claudia's inane chatter. Ten minutes later the secretary stopped talking and hung up, leaving them alone again.  
  
************  
  
"We really should be looking for that box." He finally said. It was said in the tones of one who doesn't want to get up for school but knows that they will have to eventually.  
  
"Yeah." She agreed finally.  
  
"I mean, those things are not safe, they could affect anyone." He added, though it seemed he was trying to talk himself into it more than anyone.  
  
"Mm-hmm." She nodded without any conviction whatsoever. She vaguely realised that even if they were humanities last hope for survival, then humanity was screwed.  
  
He was frowning as if trying to piece something together.  
  
"I don't want to find the boxes." She spoke finally. He nodded in agreement. "What if we find it and then we have to stop all," she gestured around them "y'know, this."  
  
"I don't want it to stop."  
  
"Me neither." she added. Both were trying to think of someway to fit it all together.  
  
"What we need," He said finally "is some way of garunteeing that we'll stay together afterwards. When all this is over." She started trailing kisses down his throat, and then started moving back up to his mouth.  
  
"Yeah. How?" She was too lusty to think right now. She'd noticed that, for a little while after they'd come together they could be perfectly fine and have a conversation, but after the after-sex glow had worn off they couldn't keep their hands off each other long enough to even say hello.  
  
He rolled over on top of her, he seemed so confident to her now. He was still quite shy and he still stammered occasionally, but there was something different about him. Not very different, though. He was still the Nigel Bailey she knew and loved. He ran his hand over her tummy. Mmm, defiantly loved.  
  
She waited for him to answer her.  
  
"Mm, go on." She whispered through a haze of lust. There was that little bit of uncertainty back again, she reached up a stroked his hair soothingly.  
  
"Marry me." He said finally.  
  
************  
  
I'm evil aren't I? Leaving it there. I know I'm really bad at romantic scenes, so if anything is glaringly wrong sorry. After all, I'm too young to have experienced any of this stuff.  
  
Next chapter: What's her answer? Will they find the box?  
  
If anyone feels like doing an NC-17 version, just ask. I'll say yes.  
  
Thank you for reading, please review. 


	11. Wedding vows and unexpected discoveries

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you:  
  
***********  
  
She hadn't had time to answer him before. The lust took over and they hadn't had chance. She was thinking it over now. Both were taking and agonisingly long time to get ready. This was mainly to do with the fact that every part of their bodies was telling them it was wrong to be anywhere but in bed or at least in each others arms.  
  
She knew that this was some kind of spell, but right now she didn't care. She was really happy. He was right, if they found the box then it would all be over, but if they got married, they'd have to stay together.  
  
This wasn't the first time she'd been proposed to, and it wasn't the first time she'd considered saying yes. But this was the only time she had really really wanted to say so. Some other parts of her that weren't as badly affected by the lust realised that it might work, but it could all go horribly wrong. What happened if and when they found the box? She would be highly embarrassed and Nigel would be mortified. Would it affect there friendship?  
  
What if they did get married? The embarrassment would be even more drawn out, because they'd have to go through the divorce proceedings, but what if they didn't want to get divorced. Of course they would, both would be highly embarrassed and want to put it behind them. She had wanted him before this whole experience but hadn't acted on it, she had no idea how he felt. If he had never felt anything for her then the whole thing would be a disaster. Plus the fact that both of them would never be able to even have a conversation or spend time together without feeling awkward.  
  
So why was she so desperate to say yes? Maybe it could all work out well. All of the other men who had proposed hadn't really spent much time with her that wasn't in bed, which is one of the main reasons she'd turned the proposals down. But she had spent a lot of time with Nigel, three years of it in fact. So it might work.  
  
What about work? That was a worry too; there were some very strict rules about illicit relationships. But this wouldn't be illicit, that was the beauty of it. While the whole chapter of rules had been horrendously against illicit relationships, not one line had mentioned anything about marriage. She doubted that the Dean would agree with this but it was her loophole and she was sticking to it.  
  
If she said yes of course.  
  
He hadn't said anything else about it since he'd asked. She didn't think he really expected an answer. Maybe he had been joking.  
  
God, she hoped not.  
  
Finally she decided to bring it up.  
  
"Nige?" She asked, moving closer. She was careful not to come too close though because they might never actually leave the room. It was a real balance sometimes.  
  
"Yes Syd?"  
  
"Um about what you said earlier." She swore that he blushed. "Um, okay." His head, which was ducked due to the fact that he was staring intently at the corner of the blanket, snapped up.  
  
"Pardon?" He looked confused. He obviously remembered what he'd asked, but wasn't sure whether she was thinking about the same thing.  
  
"Um, you know. Before, when um you said we needed something to keep us together after all this. You asked me to, um marry you. So okay then." She felt really shy, an emotion that she wasn't used to feeling. This had a lot to do with the fact that he was staring at her like she was a beautiful mirage that could disappear at any second.  
  
"Really?" She nodded smiling, and moved closer. He closed the gap between them and within seconds they were kissing passionately.  
  
***********  
  
Four hours later they collapsed back into the hotel room. Both totally wrapped up in each others arms.  
  
She hadn't even known it was possible to get married that quickly. But they'd proved it. Everything had been so easy, getting the licence, everything. They'd both got the rings and then gone to get changed and before they knew it, they were married.  
  
It was if it was all meant to be, or someone had known beforehand.  
  
She'd always wondered what it would be like to get married, she'd always thought that she'd be nervous at a ceremony that legally bound her to another person, but she couldn't be happier. Both fell onto the bed.  
  
"OWW!" Nigel yelped and sat up quickly. "There's something hard in the bed."  
  
She giggled, something she hadn't done for a long time.  
  
"That's you, dear." He kissed her again, bringing her down to him. "Seriously, it's probably just chocolates or something." Still kissing and making out, the managed to get under the covers and to find the hard thing.  
  
"Hey! Isn't that?" Both stared at the object.  
  
"What is doing in our bed?"  
  
Both stared at the box in their hands.  
  
"Hey Syd we've found the third box!"  
  
************  
  
As before, if anyone's interested in writing an R or NC-17 version of this chapter, just ask.  
  
Thank you for reading, please, please review. 


	12. Utter embarrassment and enhanced senses

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: Somebodysluv, Jolynn, Crazysnakechick5, and Beth for reviewing.  
  
***********  
  
Both reverently placed the box on the bedside table.  
  
"That was lucky." She murmured. "Remind me to leave an extra large tip for the maid." They started to kiss again.  
  
Softy she started to trail kisses down his jaw line, speaking in between each kiss.  
  
"Mm, I'm~ mm~ so glad~ mm~ we~ ooh~" He caught her mouth with his own, "~came here." She finished finally. As soon as she got the last word out her lips were on his again. God, she could stay like this for ever.  
  
"Me too." He added breathlessly in the seconds it took to breathe and simultaneously start to unbutton her shirt.  
  
Both had their eyes shut, so sadly didn't see the box nearby start to glow.  
  
"I~mm" She started working on his shirt "really~ ah~ love you."  
  
"Love you too." Nigel added softly, whispering it into her ear as he started mirroring her actions on her jaw.  
  
She was lying on top of him, their legs tangled up, content just to make out for the moment.  
  
Suddenly they froze mid kiss. Both eyes snapped open, staring with equal mixtures of shock and horror at the person above/below them.  
  
Then as one both dived off the bed, clutching their remaining clothes around the tightly. Both stood at either sides looking from the bed to the other with absolute panic. Sydney's cool exterior seemed to have given way momentarily to panic and hysteria. Nigel didn't look any more relaxed.  
  
"Oh god! What'd we do? Well, I know what we did and I pretty sure you don't need reminding but~ oh god! What did we do?" Both were trying to hide hysteria, look calm, and surruptitiously re-button their clothing. Neither of them were winning the battle.  
  
"I guess we found the, um box." She pointed to Nigel's side, where it was sitting. It was a bad change of subject, but it got the job done and avoided talking about their less than professional state.  
  
"Yeah. We'd better look at it now, before it gets stolen." He said it without thinking and blushed as the memories of the after affects of the theft returned.  
  
"Good idea." They both considered sitting on the bed, but it held a lot of memories that they weren't ready to handle as yet. Or possibly ever.  
  
Both backed away from the bed, and moved closer to each other. Both seemed to be trying to stand a distance that seemed professionally cool, while still being able to see the box. Personally, Sydney would have preferred to be in another room. The whole embarrassment of the situation was overwhelming.  
  
Thankfully, no-one had brought up the topic of the marriage. Both were trying not to think about it. They had a nasty feeling that once the initial embarrassment wore off, the deeper, more mortification would kick in.  
  
All in all it was a very similar feeling to waking up when you're eighteen with a hell of a hangover and a newly acquired tattoo in a personal place. It was a disarming discovery, it could very possibly hurt, and at the time it felt like it was going to ruin your life.  
  
"There's nothing." He said finally, professional interest taking over. His voice was tinged with part horror, part confusion.  
  
"Nothing? Not a mark? A scratch? Well, how are we supposed to find the last one?" He shrugged.  
  
"Th-the same way as last time." She jumped.  
  
"What? Make out until it appears miraculously in our bed?" She was finding the idea tempting, but didn't plan to tell him that.  
  
"Well, no. I-I didn't mean do, y'know THAT. But look at it this way. Each time we've just sort of stumbled across it, we haven't really had to search. So maybe we'll find it again that way." She really hoped they would. The sooner they found the last box the sooner the nightmare would be over.  
  
Not that the last day had been a nightmare, not really. In fact a frightening portion of her dreams represented the last two days and she had never called those nightmares.  
  
Of course the stolen box was an issue too. It wouldn't end until all four were together along with the original box. Maybe the museum would buy it off the thieves, if only too end their misery.  
  
The phone rang. Unsurprisingly it was Claudia. Was it just her or was she checking up on them more than was normal?  
  
"Hey Syd!" Sydney pulled the phone away from her ear, it sounded as though she was speaking through a megaphone. Every word sounded like a yell.  
  
"God, Claudia, can you lower your voice?" She hissed.  
  
"So-rry." She mumbled sarcastically. But she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I was only talking normally."  
  
"Yeah well don't." She closed her eyes.  
  
Three minutes of agonising talking later, Claudia hung up.  
  
"Was it just me, or was she talking really loud? I could hear every word from here." Nigel pointed to where he was standing, at least four metres away from the phone.  
  
"It wasn't just you." She moved to the window. Something felt really wrong. After five minute of silence she identified the problem.  
  
"Nigel? Come here." He did as he was asked, still making sure to stand a good distance away from her. "Look out the window and tell me if something's different."  
  
He looked. Frowned and shook his head in disbelief, and then looked again.  
  
"That's amazing; I can zoom in on people really far away. Like a camera."  
  
"I know." embarrassment temporarily forgotten, she grinned. "It's not just that. It's smells, sounds."  
  
"That's why Claudia seemed so loud on the phone." He nodded, putting two and two together.  
  
"Yeah. I'll have to apologise to her after all this is over."  
  
"So that's what the third does? Enhances our senses?" he smiled. "It's not as bad as I thought it would be."  
  
*********  
  
Sorry fairly short, I know. Don't worry. There will be more fluffy-ness soon.  
  
Thank you for reading, please review! 


	13. Grapes and Scents

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: dwgle for reviewing  
  
***********  
  
Sydney was alone again. It was odd really, she had not really been alone for days, and now that she was it felt strange. But she had been alone before and she could be alone again.  
  
Nigel had booked another room for himself. He must have been able to get one, because she had not seen him since. She would have to wait for him to come for his bags.  
  
In her mind he had got the better deal. Being stuck in a room you've pretty much had non-stop sex in when you have enhanced senses is not the best situation to be in. She had opened the windows as far as they would go, but it did nothing to mask the smells.  
  
She was actually getting a headache. Everything was so loud. She could hear the people talking next door as if she was in their room, she could hear the people three and four doors down just as clearly. Not to mention the people below her. If she really concentrated on one room she could block out the rest of the sounds. She had been practicing.  
  
"~James Harland! Will you come away from that television, we didn't come on holiday so that you could watch television~"  
  
"~Muum- it's sooo cool, look, Buffy is speaking in French!~" That was from the room below her. She momentarily considered switching Buffy on to see this phenomenon. A little Spike watching helps even the most depressed person.  
  
Of course, Spike was British, and so was Nigel. Every time either Giles or Spike said anything she'd be back to being mopey again.  
  
"~What do you mean you have to go back? I thought you came here to have a romantic time with me?~"  
  
"~I know~" The voice was near hysterical "~But Bill's been in a car accident. I have to go~" God she could speculate for hours about what the people were talking about. Maybe Bill was the woman's husband, and she had been cheating on him.  
  
Husband. God, was the world filled with things that reminded her of him? It wasn't as though he liked her back. Well he liked her, but he didn't like her, like her, emphasis on the second like. His reaction to the whole embarrassment this morning was enough to tell her that.  
  
But back on topic. She could hear more than was good for her. Hell she even knew that the bell boy had the theme tune to Moulin rouge stuck on his head; he'd gone past humming it quietly three times. Every time she did so she sung the words quietly to herself.  
  
Of course sound wasn't the only thing enhanced either. Sight was too, but it was easy to keep in control.  
  
Taste. Taste was brilliant. She had absent-mindedly eaten one grape. She had never tasted anything like it before. And she wasn't even that keen on grapes. As with most of this, no words really describe it. If she was really forced to describe it it would be something lie this.  
  
Take the average pleasure you get from eating one piece of chocolate and the great feeling you get when your hot and thirsty and you find a glass of chilled water. Now add the unbelievable feeling of eating a McDonalds when you've been on a health food diet, and how much better you feel after a cup of tea in the morning, tea, tea, England, Nigel. Oh shut up. She snapped to herself. Anyway add that all together and times it by about a million and you get something very similar.  
  
That was just from one grape.  
  
Touch was an odd one. She'd always though that she had smooth skin, but under her finger tips it was worse than sand paper. It was definitely the strangest thing to be enhanced, the absently wondered what Nigel's skin felt like.  
  
Good god, get a grip girl. If she carried on like this she was going to drive herself nuts. Back on track. It was sickening how many times she'd had to repeat that mantra over and over in the last hour.  
  
Anyway, she had wondered around touching things in disbelief. It was indescribable how WET water was, there were just no words to describe it.  
  
Smell was the hardest to block out. When she went towards the window she could smell so many things. Everything, from people to fresh baked bread. She never thought that most air really smelled of anything, but it was made up of so many things that she couldn't identify some of them. It was enough just to want to stay there forever hanging out of the window with your nose in the air.  
  
Inside was different. She could smell herself and Nigel. Not just sweat, but their skin, their hair, her perfume, his aftershave. It all mingled together until it became one very identifiable smell. If it was a perfume it would make millions. She could smell sex, lust, lots of that obviously; she could smell their shampoos, the soaps, her nails varnish. Even their blood.  
  
It all came together in sensory overload. It was THEIR scent, totally unique to them. Every time she breathed in she got the mad ache in her stomach when you want something so very badly. That excited twinge where if you don't get it you can't help but cry.  
  
It was the smell of love. Not just sex and passion. Not just friendship. It was that total balance of sweetness and closeness. Okay so the spell had made them a little insane, but she could see beyond that. The whispered 'I love you's' the sweet kisses, the total comfort of a relationship. It was like seeing into the future.  
  
Of course seeing into the future was different. Seeing into the future made the impression that it would actually happen.  
  
She had, after much deliberation, taken the ring off. Of course this new touch enhancement only made her feel worse, her hand felt empty, cold.  
  
Actually all of her felt cold, leaving the windows open for so long had been a bad idea.  
  
She shut the window and then went to the bed and wrapped the blanket around herself. Nigel Nigel Nigel.  
  
Oh god, she was going insane. Without realising it, she burst into tears.  
  
*********  
  
Well, we get Nigel's opinion on all this next.  
  
Thank you for reading, please, please review. 


	14. Depression and Phonecalls

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: Snaggle, Beth, Amy, and Kharma for reviewing.  
  
***********  
  
The whole day was obviously planned to embarrass him. The man who invented these boxes had a lot to answer for.  
  
First he had proposed. He had no idea what drove him to do it, well actually he had, but that wasn't the point. The fact was that they had actually got married. He didn't know who was more stunned. Him, because she'd actually said yes, or her, because she had temporarily lost her mind.  
  
Well, never mind that, the fact was that they were married. This was the end of their friendship without doubt, more than likely the end of his job too. He was already composing his resignation letter in his head.  
  
He wasn't sure he could face Sydney at work. Maybe he should just never go into work again; they'd have to fire him that way. Or he could post his resignation.  
  
Would she be upset with him? Well that was a stupid question; of course she would be upset. It was worse than rape. Just because she had been under a spell didn't make it better, and now they would have to go through divorce proceedings, making it even more painful.  
  
Why hadn't he resisted? It was only a spell, but he should have been able to resist. The fact that he couldn't only made it a million times worse, what would she think of him? He should have been able to control himself.  
  
He couldn't believe how idiotic he's been. What had he proposed for? She was so lusty she would have agreed to marriage if a llama had asked her. That was what scared him, was that the reason he'd asked?  
  
Of all the ways for their partnership to end this wasn't one of the ways he would have chosen. It had certainly been pleasurable, but not the way he would have liked to have been fired.  
  
Some vague part of his mind was telling him that he should at least be a little proud, she had all those men fawning over her, but she had said yes to him. Of course it was hard to feel proud when she had been under a spell, it was no better than a shotgun wedding after all.  
  
He had got a second room too. He hadn't been able to look the receptionist in the face for fear of seeing a knowing smirk; instead he filled out his papers quickly and rushed to the room. It was pretty much the same as the first, only the bed was in a different place.  
  
He was sitting on the bed now, and glaring miserably out of the window at Paris. He still had to get his things from thei~ from Sydney's room but he didn't make a move to leave.  
  
He too had been testing out his new talents. Sound wasn't so bad, as long as you remembered to block it out most of the time. Someone had dropped something loudly in the next room and he'd fallen off the bed in shock. He hadn't tried taste yet, but he meant to get something later. Touch was odd, it felt like you had a shell around you all the time when you wore clothes, he'd never noticed it before. Smell was impossible to ignore.  
  
There was so much to experience; he wanted to test it all. He felt like a toddler trying to find out how naughty they could be before they get told off. He did so many things everyday automatically; it would be like seeing them all from a new angle.  
  
Below him he could hear a couple having loud sex. It didn't improve his mood. He stopped his rage against them because they probably weren't being that loud, it wasn't their fault he could hear a pin drop in a loud nightclub. No they probably weren't that loud. Then again you never knew.  
  
Sound was starting to annoy him too, you could block it out, but it took effort. You also found after a while that you didn't want to, people were a lot more interesting that you give them credit for. It also gave a rare glimpse into people's lives.  
  
He wanted to tell Syd all about this, but didn't feel it was his place to phone up after everything that had happened. She would probably have gotten over her mortification and be angry with him. Maybe being shouted at would lessen his guilt. He doubted it somehow.  
  
But he really wanted to get out of the suit, which meant he needed his luggage. Finally he gave in and called, trying to think of something to say.  
  
"H-hello." He almost dropped the phone in shock. Syd's voice was quiet, but in his mind, even quiet was deafening. What really shocked him was how sad she sounded, the word had sounded like a sob more than anything else.  
  
It had to be stress, it was understandable really. He had, after all, just ruined her life. It was just odd to hear one of the strongest people he knew on the verge of tears. He had an urge to cry with guilt, to run over and make her hit him until she was happy again.  
  
"Hello?" She asked again, a little more clearly this time. Slamming the phone down seemed a very tempting idea but he decided against it.  
  
"Err, um, Hi, it's me. I-I got the room. I was wondering if I could come and get my stuff." She was silent, or at least she didn't speak, he could hear her breathing and the muffled voices of people in the rooms close to hers.  
  
He could hear her clearly though. She still had the phone to her mouth; he could hear her breathing, which was shallow and heavy. She seemed to be fighting back sobs.  
  
"We need to talk." She said finally, before putting the phone down.  
  
Even though the sound was so quiet even he only just heard it. He didn't miss the desperate sob as she put the phone down.  
  
*******  
  
It wasn't exactly wonderful, I know, but today is Harry Potter release day and I'm dieing to read. Only I'm being a good girl and writing my fanfiction first.  
  
By the way, this is the last chapter with anything resembling angst.  
  
Thank you for reading, please review. 


	15. Flu and awkwardness

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: Beth, Dwgle and Kharma(I'm glad someone feels the same way about HP) Anyway, thank you all for reviewing, it makes me happy!  
  
***********  
  
He stood outside her door trying to work out a game plan. Should apologise? Resign? Get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness? He realised that to do any of these things he needed to get into the room. He still had his key, but just barging in was not the best option. What if she wasn't fully dressed? It wouldn't exactly help his argument.  
  
He couldn't hear her. He strained to, but she wasn't making any noise at all. She didn't seem to be moving. As odd as it sounded he could smell her, and as he stepped closer to the door, them. Together.  
  
How could she stand to be in there. If she regretted every second of it, it was not the best place to be.  
  
Finally he knocked in a 'respectful, completely unrelated to sex in any way shape or form' way. Up until this moment he would never have believed a knock could sound indecent.  
  
*****  
  
He was outside, she could tell. She could part hear him and part smell him, as weird as it sounded. He seemed to be dallying around, and trying not to be there. Maybe she should get up and open the door.  
  
She was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall. She was so very cold.  
  
She hadn't even wanted to use the blankets, they all smelled of them and it was to painful. But it was so cold, she couldn't bare it. She was now wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, still sitting on the floor.  
  
Her migraine had worsened, every sound just made it thump harder. She wanted to die.  
  
Finally she heard the faint, sweet knock. She should get up and open the door she knew, but her whole body ached and she didn't trust herself to stand.  
  
"Come in." She mumbled loudly. She didn't know if he heard it, she could barely hear it and she said it. How come her heart beat was that loud? She'd never noticed it before.  
  
He apparently did hear, because very slowly the door opened and his head peered around. He looked ready to dive back out should anything like a vase be thrown in his direction.  
  
She tried to smile, but it came across as a grimace.  
  
"Hey." Her voice hurt too. He looked very uncomfortable.  
  
"Hello Syd. Sydney. I've come to get my stuff, you said I could, so I'll just get it and them I'll go and~" He took a proper look at her. "Are you okay?" Her feeble nod turned into a shake of the head halfway through.  
  
"What's happening to me? Is it the senses thing?" She looked totally unhappy about being weak. The whole farce of this morning totally forgotten, he was by her side in an instant. He helped her up and steered her towards the bed. She realised what he was doing halfway there and stopped. "No, I can't get in the bed."  
  
"Look," he tried to be rational, he totally understood her feelings about the bed. "You look as though you have the flu. You need to rest."  
  
She looked pleadingly towards him. Feeling incredibly slow and unwell. Suddenly, being alone was the last thing she wanted.  
  
"Will you stay with me?" She begged.  
  
********  
  
Short, but I will get to the point soon, I promise.  
  
Next chapter: The final box! (But not the final chapter)  
  
Thank you for reading, please, please review. 


	16. British thoughts and the fourth box

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: snaggle, dwgle, N, Beth, jennzabell, Isabelle Dudley(sorry about the watermelon) Hidden, Bil, Marianne, and Cat.  
  
***********  
  
The room swam into focus. No matter how hard she stared it didn't stop swimming, she felt like she was on an underwater roller-coaster. With a hangover.  
  
Her head pounded, she felt like she was going insane with noise. Snippets of conversation attacked her from all sides, barely even muffled by the doors and walls. It was like playing three c.d's backwards at full volume.  
  
The air around her smothered her, it felt like she was buried in sand, every movement in the air. Behind her there was a regular blast of air that hit the back of her neck every half-second or so. The regular blasts hit her neck like a blow from a hammer. She tried to move her head to protect her neck, but moving just an inch seemed like a painfully slow and tiring process. That would be the flu she reminded herself.  
  
If yesterday had been bad, today was worse, her flu didn't feel as awful, but everything else did. She realised that this was why humans didn't have as great sight as say a hawk, or the smell capacity of a dog or cat. The brain just couldn't handle the messages it received.  
  
It felt like she had always imagined being psychic would be, because people think so many things all at once that hearing any more than your own thoughts would be totally and utterly confusing, not to mention giving you a major headache. There was just no way of controlling it, so her brain couldn't handle all the extra information. As a result, her eyes hurt from the brightness of the colours, her skin hurt from the pressure around her, and her mind was hurting from the mixture of smells it was receiving. Had someone died next door? Not to mention being deafened from the noise and having the most disgusting taste in her mouth.  
  
There was also someone else with her. She just knew. Was it the flu thinking? Could she really trust her senses right now? She was pretty certain though, all her senses, with the exception of sight (because her eyes were shut) and taste were telling that someone was lying next to her.  
  
She doubled over when the pain hit her. Had all the stuff she'd just thought been a hallucination and she was really in the middle of a torture chamber? It felt exactly like someone had stuck a ten ton weight on her stomach; surely nothing could be that heavy could it? She risked the pain that the flu caused her limbs and the pounding that opening her eyes caused and moved to look at what was causing her suffering.  
  
It was an arm. One that was wrapped around her waist in a supposedly gentle gesture. Hang on, whose arm was it? Her mind was feeling hazy, there was so much information coming in, she could barely remember the old information. Nigel! That was who it was. He's stayed, of course.  
  
"Nigel!" She hissed. He didn't react in any way. The steady breathing on the back of her neck and the deafening rumble of him breathing in and out attested to the fact that he was still asleep.  
  
"Nigel, wake up!" She hoped that he wasn't feeling as awful as she was. But if he wasn't it would be a great help because she wouldn't have to suffer the pain it caused to yell. "Nigel! WAKE UP!"  
  
"YagHH!" He removed his arm and sat up suddenly. She couldn't force the scream that his yelling caused her back. It was so loud she felt like her eardrums would explode.  
  
"OWW!"  
  
"GAAHH!"  
  
"STOP YELLING!"  
  
"I WILL IF YOU WILL!" There was an almighty jolt as he collapsed back against the bed his hands against his ears. They really needed to talk, but a normal conversation would be nigh on impossible in this state. She lowered her voice so that it was less than a whisper. She stopped the sounds as soon as they got through her voice box; she knew he'd hear though.  
  
"This is getting worse. We're in no state to go on a hunt; we're in no state to leave the room." There was quietness, at least the lack of Nigel's voice.  
  
"How's your flu?" This was better, at least no-one was yelling. In this room at least, three rooms down a man and his mistress were having a particularly bad fight, to do with the fact he still hadn't left his wife. Not that she was enjoying this at all, but she would miss the ability to eavesdrop.  
  
"I'm not sure, it's kinda hard to tell with the senses thing." with a bit of effort she turned around, this cased her to roll into Nigel slightly. Her forehead rested just under his neck.  
  
"Do you feel that you're being smothered by the oxygen?" He murmured.  
  
"Yeah." She groaned.  
  
"It's not the flu then." He added helpfully. She was careful not to put any limbs on top of him and considering the flinch she'd cased when her hand had accidentally been rested on his chest he was returning the compliment. If breathing on each other hurt being in someone else's arms could break bones.  
  
Even so, it felt nice to be so close to Nigel, with the exception of the last few days, she didn't get much chance to really be in close contact with him. When physical feelings were assaulting your brain, it didn't leave much room for emotional ones. Once this was all over though, they needed to have a proper talk; she just couldn't cope with a meaningful talk right now. She might not have to much control over what was said.  
  
There was a burning feeling in her throat.  
  
"What?"  
  
She realised she must have giggled; suddenly she said the first thing that came to her mind.  
  
"I don't think we've ever spent as much time in bed together as we have this week." She didn't need enhanced senses to know that all the blood was rushing to his face.  
  
"O-oh! Sorry! I forgot, s-sorry, I-I'll go." He started shuffling about to get out of bed. There was a feeling like an earthquake from the mattress.  
  
"No!" She said that a little louder than necessary. Both brought their hand up to their ears.  
  
He stopped moving.  
  
"We, we need a plan." She felt a little silly in saying it, she was keeping a very careful reign on her mouth, and nothing out of the ordinary was going to be said on her watch. It didn't help that her mind was filled with the more smutty images from the last few days. If senses were enhanced what the hell would sex be like? Her mind was lost in thought about it.  
  
She lost concentration for a little bit, she managed to refrain form saying any of this out loud though, she might not be able to guess which was the blood would go that time. Would it be worth it to find out though? After a brief mental struggle she kept her mouth firmly closed.  
  
"What do you think?" She jumped, he hissed in pain.  
  
"Nothing! Not about anything sexy anyway." She realised how stupid she must have sounded and contrived to look intelligent, in control and in no way aroused.  
  
"Glad to hear it." He was unable to mask the dryness. She wondered if it was a quality of every British person. Yes! British people, think about that! Not about the sexy accents of course, more importantly not about Nigel. Um, Tea, Earl Grey, Brolly's, what are they anyway? She'd have to ask Nigel, No! No Nigel, err, the queen, Prince William, that odd Prime Minister, pigeons, Scotland Yard, Rain, the Beatles, The Spice girls, Preston Bailey, Nigel's brother, Nigel. Arggh! Odd British words, loo, shag, not Nigel though, um Red buses, Trafalgar square. Oh hang on, Nigel was sating something. No Nigel.  
  
Is it okay to think about Nigel if he's saying something that is probably important to you?  
  
"-normal relic hunt after all."  
  
"Huh?" She looked apologetic for not listening. Half of her didn't want to be taken from trying not to think about Nigel, when se was failing not to think about him, she wasn't concentrating on her senses.  
  
"I said it's not really a normal relic hunt."  
  
"Yeah. I get the feeling that we're being messed about with, like we're being taken to the next level but only after we've been a source of entertainment for them." She felt pleased she could add something through the veil of Nigel thoughts.  
  
He blushed again, obviously wondering whether they were being watched and if so, how much had they seen? She didn't relish the idea of someone seeing them for the past few days either.  
  
"Suddenly bad luck doesn't sound so bad." He muttered. She had to smile a little at that. She couldn't help but feel that things weren't so very bad. They may be a little uncomfortable, but they weren't bad.  
  
"Yeah, I mean-" She noticed that Nigel A) wasn't looking at her, and B) was frowning.  
  
"What?" She whispered, not having the energy to turn.  
  
"When did you put the box on your side of the bed?" She pushed back the dizziness at actually having a 'her' side of the bed to answer him calmly.  
  
"I didn't it's still on your side." They met each other's eyes.  
  
"Oh. Shit."  
  
"Bloody Hell."  
  
************  
  
I hope that was a bit longer, and I promise I will update sooner, I swear. Next chappy we find out what the final box does.  
  
As always, anyone wants to write a NC-17 or R version of this chapter, feel free. Tell me though in a review, I would like to read it.  
  
Thank you for reading, please review. 


	17. I'm under your spell

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me! The song, I'm under your spell belongs to Joss Whedon.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: crazysnakechick5 for reviewing.  
  
Okay, this may be quite weird, but I think I know what I'm doing, sorry for not updating as often as I should have.  
  
******  
  
"Well, that was easy." Sydney managed to roll over enough to see the box, it hadn't been there before, she would have noticed. "Makes you wonder how bad the next ones going to be."  
  
"If it's anything like the last one, I'm giving up." He muttered bitterly. "It's got to be worse that enhanced senses, it's the last one. Why do I get the feeling this one's going to go out with a bang?" He paused. "On the plus side, my head feels better." Nigel still hadn't moved. He had his eyes shut as though wishing the headache away.  
  
Sydney could sympathise, the room had stopped swimming, but her head didn't feel good. Unfortunately, the find hadn't made her flu go away, her throat still felt scratchy and her nose ached. She hoped it was just a twenty-four hours thing.  
  
She also vaguely hoped that the effects would be pretty bad, if things were back to normal-or normalish- that would mean that they'd have to have the marriage talk.  
  
"I think I might be able to stand up." She said in a small voice, as though the option of standing was a distant dream, which in had been ten minutes ago. Her body felt heavy, but she managed to shuffle to a sitting position.  
  
"As nice as the 'not feeling awful' feeling is, what happens now? We can't go back, we're a box missing." Right now Sydney was in the middle of feeling great, or at least, her brain hurt less, and with one thing and another she hadn't really thought about what would happen when they'd found the last one.  
  
"Um," She mumbled. "They said they were going to make us by it back. At least, I think so, we were a little-stuck-at the time."  
  
He blushed.  
  
"Well, if it's anything like the enhanced senses, they can have the number to my bank account." He said.  
  
She laughed a little at that.  
  
"Yeah, mine too." She moved to stand, but a wave of dizziness pushed her back onto the bed. "Unggh. My head." She groaned.  
  
His arms moved around her waist, helping her to sit up again.  
  
"Hasn't it worn off totally yet? Mine has."  
  
"I think it's the flu. But I feel better than I did, that's for sure." She tried to think of some sort of plan, one that didn't involve too much research, which she didn't think her brain could handle right now. "Okay, why don't we go to the police, tell them about the thieves, maybe they can get in touch with the Italian police too."  
  
"Yeah, it's about the only plan we've got. Well, I'm just going to get changed into something, err, better." He blushed again and all but dived out of the room.  
  
Yep, he was feeling better. She had no doubt that in half an hour he would have difficulty even looking at her without blushing. With the events of the last day, they had put the 'sleeping together while under magical influence' thing behind them. Not because they were over it, but more because being alone while feeling like that was terrifying, even for her.  
  
But now things were normal again. She was the boss; he was the assistant, like everything was meant to be. They were no longer lovers, and the friendship was still there, but not a priority. How it was meant to be.  
  
So why did she feel more lonely than ever?  
  
No. She had to stop thinking like that. Her loving him was the last thing he needed right now, He was obviously mortified and upset, bringing it up and forcing him to examine feelings would push him further away.  
  
So no, she wouldn't mention it unless he did, and hopefully that, rather pleasant, few hours of her life could be put behind them.  
  
She moved to the wardrobe and started going through the contents. Mostly there was just relic hunting gear, casual clothes that she could move about in, there was some lighter stuff, as well as a few elegant dresses that often came in handy. She hadn't really packed for her needs on this particular trip, but then, she hadn't expected to spend a half of it in bed.  
  
She decided on a light dress that was nice enough for the weather. Unsurprisingly, the 'end of the world' heat she had been experiencing was actually pleasant sunshine. The dress was white with a brown pattern so light it was almost pink, there were wrist length sleeves, but they were made from a mesh-y fabric so she wouldn't be too hot.  
  
After a shower, a lot of paracetamols, and doing her hair, she felt a lot better, a lot more like her usual organised self. She phoned Claudia, asking how she was and telling her that they'd be here for a few more days. By the end of the call she heard Nigel knocking on the door.  
  
"Okay, bye Claudia, yes, we'll be fine, okay, bye." She put down the phone. "Come in!" Nigel stepped in wearing a blue shirt and casual trousers and looking a lot less rumpled.  
  
"Hello, you look better." He smiled, blushing again. "Um, I checked where the nearest police station was, I guess we should go, we'd get paid more attention if we went in person." He leaned against the door as she grabbed her bag.  
  
"Where is it?" Nigel seemed lost in thought.  
  
"Hmm? Oh, it's just through the park. Not far. Are you sure you're up to it? I mean I can go if you'd like and judging by that glare you do want to go and I shouldn't be questioning whether you're up to it so I'll just shut up and shall we go?" He babbled awkwardly at her glare.  
  
"Yes, let's go." She linked her arm through his and they started to walk. A few people on the way down that had seen them while under the lust spell smirked in their direction. Nigel had his gaze firmly locked on the floor. Sydney turned suddenly to face him and began sorting out his collar absentmindedly. When she was done she raised his head by the chin, her wedding ring, which she'd put on again, glinted in the light.  
  
"Don't worry; they're just jealous because no-one will ever want them that much." She murmured. The blush remained on his face, but he looked a little more comfortable about it all. She fiddled with his collar again, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, smiled pleasantly at the staring man, before steering the shocked beyond belief Nigel out of the door. She was absolutely sure all the blood in his body had gathered in his face.  
  
Thankfully by the time they reached the park he had got over the shock and was back to his usual colour.  
  
The park was lovely, a heaven for all those in love. Gravel pathways unmarred by litter were scattered around the green grass, flowers, both professionally planted and naturally there, surrounded them. There was a stream, which led to a small artificial lake that was none-the-less lovely.  
  
People were everywhere, couples picnicked (and in quite a few cases, made out) on the grass. New parents pushing prams with lacy parasols attached, walked around or sat playing with their children. Older people sat on benches, families walked dogs, it was just a nice place to be, relaxing and not too crowded.  
  
Although it was not busy they walked away from where most people were to the stream area, where there was only one person, a man walking a dog.  
  
They stopped over the bridge and the man walked on past them. For a while they stood, leaning against the side and looking down at the water.  
  
"God, that water looks refreshing. I could just jump in in this heat." Sydney nodded in agreement at what he'd said. The water did look nice, and though it wasn't stifling hot, it still sounded like a good idea.  
  
"Yeah." A light-bulb appeared in her mind. "In fact that's a great idea!" With a fluid move she was up and standing on the side on the bridge. If she fell she wouldn't fall more than a few feet, but she would get very wet and probably into trouble. She stood beaming at him, her arms out to the side balancing her.  
  
He had his mouth open in shock, wondering just where it was all going.  
  
From the red colour he was going, he was also aware of the fact that everyone who could see her was staring at them.  
  
"What are you doin-" The mirth in his voice overtook the embarrassment on his face. He was obviously trying not to laugh.  
  
"Here are my demands!" She shouted to the world in general. "If I do not get them, I will jump to my watery-" She looked at the small, and by no means menacing, stream, "-bath." She finished lamely. She heard Nigel's snort behind her. "Two enormous bowls of ice cream, two glasses of lemonade, loads of ice, ooh! And one of those portable whirly fan thingies, make that two." A few more people were staring at them.  
  
"Don't worry; she always forgets to pack her medication." He called to them. "I take her straight to get some more." They chuckled and slowly moved off, leaving them alone again.  
  
"Ha! Success." She giggled. "My aim is achieved." He frowned.  
  
"What aim?" She jumped off the side and back onto the bridge with a large amount of ceremony. "I don't see any ice cream." She placed her hands on his shoulders, bringing them into a semi embrace.  
  
"To bring you out of yourself. I lov- I mean- adore you when your in a mood like this. You don't need to be so shy all the time. Look at when you called out to these people just now, there was no stammering or shyness, you were just lovely you." She beamed again. He chuckled.  
  
"Married for less than a day and you're already changing me." She laughed again, feeling remarkably relaxed and happy. Suddenly Relic hunts and problems seemed a long way away.  
  
"Yeah, well, I just wish other people than me and Claudia could see you when you're like this. I want them to see what I see in you."  
  
"I know what they'd see in me though."  
  
"What." She murmured. Their lips were millimetres apart.  
  
"You."  
  
Before either could change their mind, they leaned in for one of the sweetest kisses ever. Not passionate or desperate like before, not shy or uncomfortable, just a sweet and gentle kiss on the lips. Both pulled back, she had no doubt she was a little red, but it would take a long time to get rid of the smile the kiss had caused her.  
  
Nigel looked similarly dazed, as though he was totally beyond happiness and into heaven.  
  
Suddenly he frowned, as though trying to work something out. He smile faded, wondering what could be wrong.  
  
"I lived my life in shadow  
  
Never the sun on my face" A gentle guitar music provided background for the gentle beginning of the song. She had no idea where the music came from, but she really didn't care. Nigel was singing to her, and he was singing well. Her brain told her to stop thinking and enjoy the moment, after all, it's not everyday a girl get serenaded.  
  
"It didn't seem so sad though  
  
I figured that was my place"  
  
As he moved onto the next line, a glow of seemingly light glittered onto his face.  
  
"Now I'm bathed in light  
  
Something just isn't right  
  
I'm under your spell  
  
How else could it be  
  
Anyone would notice me?"  
  
He moved to the edge of the bridge, giving her what could only be described as a smouldering look. Girl power be damned she just wanted to be swept off her feet.  
  
"It's magic I can tell  
  
How you've set me free  
  
Brought me out so easily"  
  
He took her hand and they walked along to path to were the lake was, the walked past people, but no-one paid them any attention. She found that surprising. A singing man, walking past, serenading someone with unseen accompaniment should get some raised eyebrows, but she really didn't care.  
  
"I saw a world enchanted  
  
Spirits and charms in the air"  
  
He lifted his arm allowing her to spin around, she didn't know why she knew what to do, but who was she to ruin a moment?  
  
"I always took for granted  
  
I was the only one there  
  
But your power shone  
  
Brighter than any I've known"  
  
As the last word was drawn out he placed and arm around her waist, and she put one of hers on his shoulder. As soon as the chorus started up again, they started a fast waltz in front of the lake, and still no-one paid them any attention.  
  
"I'm under your spell  
  
Nothing I can do  
  
You just took my soul with you  
  
You worked your charm so well  
  
Finally I knew  
  
Everything I dreamed was true  
  
You make me believe"  
  
As the final word of the song was drawn out for five seconds and the choir of unseen singers started humming, they started to spin around, arms around each others waist. It was like something out of a better class of musicals.  
  
She'd never appreciated them before now, but she was seeing them in a whole new light.  
  
As the music stopped and the sounds of the park returned, they stood, breathless and a little shocked.  
  
"Wow." She whispered, and before he could do anything else, she kissed him.  
  
************  
  
Okay, cheesy yes. Rubbish? That's up to you; I won't know what you think unless you click that button! This is NOT the last chapter, there will be a few more.  
  
I'm sorry if they acted out of character, but I wanted to show a more fun side, because most of the recent stuff has been boring and depressing.  
  
Some of you may recognise the song. Most people who watch Buffy will. It was taken from the musical episode, which you can tell I've kinda stolen the idea from. The song is called 'I'm under your spell' it was written by Joss Whedon and sung by Amber Benson (aka Tara) In the story she sung it to Willow, but whenever I hear it I think of Nigel(Yes, I know he's a boy and it's a girls song but it's my story). If you look around on the web you'll probably be able to download it or at least hear it. It's a great song so it'll be worth the effort. Or you could be lazy like me and by the album!  
  
Anyway, thanks for reading, please review! I only need one more and then I'm up to forty reviews! So please, please click the button. Not that writing should be about begging for reviews, but still, I like to know I'm appreciated. 


	18. I think it's love that we're feeling

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me! The song, I think it's love, was sung by steps  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: sombodysluv and snaggle for reviewing.  
  
Okay, this may be quite weird, but I think I know what I'm doing, sorry for not updating as often as I should have.  
  
******  
  
Once the kiss ended they stepped away from each other.  
  
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but did I, or did I not, burst into song?" Nigel seemed a little shell shocked.  
  
"Yeah, you did. A very sweet and nice song if it's any consolation." They continued walking. "I take it that that bout of musical genius wasn't planned?"  
  
"Not by me. It was really strange." Sydney nodded in agreement. It had felt magical, and as nice as the idea was, she had not, until now, known that her teaching assistant was prone to bouts of singing.  
  
"What was it like?" She asked.  
  
"Well, one minute I'm thinking about how much I've changed for the better because of you," he suddenly realised what he'd said, "err, well, that is, um, and the next thing I know, I'm telling you, in song."  
  
"I know, where did the music come from? It sounded like there was an orchestra nearby, only I don't see one, and how did you know the words?" He shrugged.  
  
"Maybe this has something to do with the last box." She paused at that.  
  
"I don't see how that's really bad, I mean, we can both sing and stuff, and no-one seems to notice anyway." Syd said carefully. Nigel coloured slightly.  
  
"Well, you see, I wasn't really planning on telling you what I sang, that's how I felt, but I wouldn't have told you."  
  
"Why not?" She demanded.  
  
"Well, you might have taken it the wrong way, or thought that I was overstepping the mark, I didn't want to embarrass you. But I just couldn't stop myself." She nodded at these words.  
  
"So, the forth box makes us sing our innermost feelings? Even when we don't want to?" He nodded. "Oh joy."  
  
"So, why don't we get the police visit over with, go to our separate rooms, and hide while trying not to think anything incriminating?" Personally Sydney agreed with this, but this was her first chance in quite a while to be in another country without having to worry about work, nothing would make her give it up. She told Nigel this.  
  
"Fine, but maybe we should agree that we won't take offence at anything the other sings." She smirked as they left the park.  
  
"Why Nige, you have something you don't want me to know about?"  
  
"What! No! I just, err, don't want you to take anything the wrong way, anyway, I just sang, it's you we've got to worry about, you're next." Sydney paled and started trying to think non Nigel centric thoughts.  
  
***  
  
The visit to the police station went off without a hitch, or at least, without a musical hitch. The inspector told them that even with the descriptions, they could be anywhere by now. They were also planning on keeping an eye on all the main auctions in case it appeared for sale. Other than that they would just have to wait.  
  
"Well, that went well." Nigel muttered bitterly as they came out of the station.  
  
"Yeah, we'll just have to fly back home and hope for the best." Sydney seemed a little unhappy at having to go home again so soon.  
  
"C'mon Syd, why don't we go see some sights, since we've nothing better to do?" She nodded, if her time here was being cut short, she wanted to have some fun first.  
  
***  
  
By dinner time they had been all over Paris, the Eiffel tower, all the galleries and museums. The museums were really fun, a lot of the tour guides knew who they were, and watching them go deathly pale at the thought of talking in front of two people who had not only studied the subject, but taught it was hilarious. The last one kept looking like he expected to be told to go to the back of the class by them.  
  
They'd also been shopping and had had lunch. There were now some new additions to both wardrobes, as well as various souvenirs and a few gifts for Claudia.  
  
The day spent having fun in Paris had done wonders for Sydney's health, the flu thing was all but gone, and even better, she hadn't felt the urge to spill her feelings through music once.  
  
"What about dinner? Shall we go back at get changed?" It was now nearly seven and it was getting dark. Sydney nodded.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
***  
  
Back in the hotel room, Sydney changed into her new dress, a red strappy dress that reached to just above her knees with frill things at the bottom. She had been kind to Nigel and had not dragged him into too many clothes shops.  
  
Just because he was two hundred percent better than every man she had ever dated didn't make him any fonder of shopping than the rest.  
  
Did he count as a boyfriend now?  
  
Technically, he counted as more, what with being legally married to her, but it didn't really feel like it. If she wanted this to work, which she really, really did, she was going to have to be really careful. Maybe tonight, if everything went well, they could have a long talk.  
  
Checking her reflection, she left the room.  
  
****  
  
They sat near the entrance to the garden, in one of the more secluded parts of the room. There was a full band with a singer paid to keep the room in a romantic and above all, wine-buying mood.  
  
It wasn't too busy, being such a hard place to get into that very few people ever managed it. God knows how Nigel had got them in, but they blended in nicely with the elite couples. A few people smiled at them, but other than that they kept out of everyone's way.  
  
"Well." Nigel murmured. "You fancy getting up on the stage and giving us all a quick tune? That way you won't have to worry." She pulled a sarcastic 'ha ha ha' expression, but then turned serious.  
  
"You think I'd get chucked out? I mean a place like this is bound to have rules about spontaneous musical combustion, right?" He smiled.  
  
"My advice?" She nodded. "Get extremely drunk so that you won't be able to think about anything incriminating?" At her expression he stammered. "N-not that you would think about anything incriminating."  
  
A waiter took their orders.  
  
Two hours and three glasses of wine each later they were both rather tipsy and being far too loud. They had talked about everything, from old hunts, rumours about colleagues, to music and television. Finishing off his glass Nigel looked over at a waiter.  
  
"I think we should go outside for a bit, that waiter is glaring at us." He pointed to a man with a black suit and a big nose.  
  
"That penguin? How dare he?!" She said with a slight hiccup. That wine had been really nice and she new she was going to have a little headache in he morning. She called the penguin over and ordered more wine for them both, okay, maybe a big headache. And she still had to talk with Nigel.  
  
Trying to manage the ultimate task of carrying her glass and not dropping her shawl, they tottered into the garden, and sat down on a nearby bench.  
  
They were in the perfect spot, they were close enough to the restaurant to feel the heat from the inside, but were still far enough away not to be disturbed.  
  
Out here though, taking in the beauty of the garden, neither spoke. Sydney just didn't want to ruin the perfect day, so she kept quiet. She felt much less tiddlypom* now, and she was careful to sip her drink slowly.  
  
A song very similar to the ones that had been playing all night could be heard from inside.  
  
"Are they being paid to play the same song, over and over?" She muttered with a giggle. He laughed too.  
  
"Maybe they're waiting for us to dance to it." He said innocently. "D-do you want to?" A slow smile crossed her face, hoping that what he's said wasn't a figment of her imagination.  
  
"Yeah, okay." She whispered huskily.  
  
He stood, taking her hand, and they fell into a comfortable embrace. Sydney was having the time of her life; she just wanted tonight to go on forever. To not have to worry about the boxes, or flying back tomorrow, just to stay here like this, permanently.  
  
Not long after they started to dance though, another song blended with the live one; until it totally overtook it was gently, and about the same speed as the one they'd been dancing at.  
  
To her own surprise she knew the words, she stretched her mind to try and remember where she'd heard it, but she came up blank. Even worse she started to sing.  
  
"Hurry up love don't keep me waiting  
  
Just say the words I'm longing for  
  
Right here and now this moments for the taking  
  
You are the one that I adore  
  
Here in your arms I'm drifting far away  
  
So tell me know don't you hesitate"  
  
It was the most amazing feeling, like all the things you felt or wanted to say but didn't had all been bottled up with phenomenal pressure on your heart, every word lightened the pressure and her voice became more confident as it oozed into the chorus.  
  
"Is this love that we're feeling  
  
Or are we dreaming  
  
Do you feel the magic too  
  
Make a dream come true  
  
And if you feel the wonder that I do inside  
  
Then I think its love we're feeling tonight"  
  
Nigel looked a little shocked, and she knew that he was staring at her. For her part she couldn't take her eyes of his. The look of total awe seemed to overwhelm her, forcing her to carry on.  
  
"In your eyes I see only heaven  
  
With you my love I'll always stay  
  
You're in my heart now and forever  
  
I need to know that you feel the same  
  
With you I think I know what love can mean  
  
So hold me now until eternity"  
  
By now they weren't even dancing just swaying to the song. More intent on the words and each other than the dance or the location.  
  
"Is this love that we're feeling  
  
Or are we dreaming  
  
Do you feel the magic too  
  
Make a dream come true  
  
And if you feel the wonder that I do inside  
  
Then I think its love we're feeling tonight  
  
And in your arms it feels like paradise  
  
I see my dreams reflected in your eyes  
  
Don't you tell me that I'm dreaming'  
  
'cos I won't believe it  
  
This is love we're feeling tonight  
  
Oh tonight"  
  
Nigel, who had up until now only watched her, suddenly started to join in, his voice was huskier than normal from the wine, and compared to her voice was only really a whisper against the music.  
  
"Is this love that we're feeling  
  
Or are we dreaming  
  
Do you feel the magic too  
  
Make a dream come true  
  
And if you feel the wonder that I do inside  
  
Then I think its love we're feeling  
  
I think its love we're feeling  
  
Yes I think its love we're feeling tonight"  
  
The words faded away, leaving them dancing slowly to the ending music of the song.  
  
Then, like a crashing symbol in a gentle harmonious piece, the original song brought them crashing back down to earth.  
  
When they had started to dance it had been a quiet background song, now it was just loud and unwelcome after the gentle beauty of their song.  
  
"So." She said softly, the memory of the last lines spurring her on. "Do you love me?" Unexpectedly, he didn't jump or look away, he just carried on looking at her.  
  
"Yes. I do." She didn't move, just stood their smiling softly. "Do you? Love me, I mean." She grinned again.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Mmm. Good."  
  
They came together for another kiss.  
  
*************  
  
Wow, another chapter, I'm glad no-one thinks the idea is too stupid, there will be more, although not too many more songs.  
  
I tried not to do too many lyrics, because I know that lyrics rend to be off putting, so I tried to keep the flow of the story going too.  
  
For all those who're interested, the song was by Steps, I'm not sure if they were popular in America. If not they were famous for cheesy music and stupid dance routines, this was one of the few songs I really liked *she said, hiding stack of cd's* It's really slow and romantic and doesn't have a dance routine.  
  
Anyway, please review, they make me write more!  
  
* Tiddlypom is my mum's word for when you're not quite tipsy but not really sober. 


	19. Breakfast in Bed

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me! The song, 'I promise' is sung by Stacie Orrico.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
Thank you: Kali Nayidnam, Beth, Jemma, GQlover2003, Blue Luna, Yuriko Tsukino, Razial, anime-alice, and sunflower18.  
  
My apologies for the amount of time since the last update *blush* sooo much has been going on. Please read and review.  
  
**********************  
  
Sleep had come to them quicker than either had expected. The alcohol seemed to have fused with the emotional exhaustion of the day and by the time they reached the bedroom both sets of eyelids were drooping.  
  
Sydney stripped down to her slip, and, not having the energy to bother to find nightclothes, climbed into her side and succeeded in remaining awake long enough for Nigel, who had stripped down to his boxer-shorts and vest, to flop into his half. By the time the bed had stilled from his movements, both were fast asleep.  
  
She was the first to wake in the morning; her body awoke slowly, her brain not bothering to rush its first task of getting her up to speed. Sydney's mind tried to remember the last time she had woken-up this pleasantly, without needing to get up, or rush off or have to deal with an emergency. She got a lot of pleasure from knowing that Nigel was next to her, he was dozing quite peacefully on his side, but the feeling of inner calm came solely from that rare feeling of not having anything to do. Everything else was just a lucky bonus.  
  
Her mood, already good, was considerably improved by the discovery that the wine had had little to no effect on her this morning. The state of Nigel's head was another matter; she hoped he'd feel fine too. She wanted this mood to last.  
  
"Ngghrr." The groan of her TA made her turn expectantly towards him; he was blinking at her fuzzily.  
  
"The wine?" she murmured sympathetically. He looked puzzled for a second as if he was trying to get his brain into gear, which, she reminded herself, he probably was.  
  
"No." He answered finally "Just comfy."  
  
Yes, she decided, today was going to be a good day.  
  
Neither had felt up to going downstairs for breakfast, so it had been ordered up to the room. The smaller tray now sat in between them, almost forgotten as they talked their way through the impromptu breakfast in bed.  
  
"Have we got anything important to do today?" Nigel finally asked, obviously hoping that it would be taken as an idle question and not a hint that he wanted the morning to end, because getting out of bed was the last thing he wanted right now.  
  
Syd wracked her brains, there was the flight back to the US this evening, but other than that the whole day stretched ahead of them. She shook her head and was delighted to hear a sigh of relief from Nigel.  
  
"Seems sad that it's ending." She commented, "I would have loved to have stayed longer, it's not often you get to do the whole tourist thing. And it seemed nice to have a few days that we weren't putting our lives at risk too." Nigel was nodding emphatically to her comments.  
  
"Maybe we could come back, have a holiday." Sydney really liked the idea of that and said so.  
  
"Although, I'd prefer it when we get this whole 'bursting into song' thing under control." She added.  
  
Soon the tray had been moved out of the way and they now lay facing each other, Sydney propped up on her arm and Nigel slumped against the pillows. The clock was ticking towards eleven o' clock and still neither made a move.  
  
"What about our marriage?" She finally asked. The question came from out of the blue, and its bluntness caused Nigel, who had just finished an anecdote about a stunt involving, him, a penguin and some drunken fellow students at Oxford, to loose his train of thought.  
  
"I don't see how a-a penguin figures into it." He mumbled lamely. Her eyes still bore into him, obviously waiting for a decent answer. "I-I want to stay married. To you." He felt the need to add.  
  
"So do I." She answered. But the other worries were niggling at her. "But what about work? And our living situations? How would we explain everything? I mean, I love you, you love me, and as great as that sounds on paper, there's still all that other stuff." With every worry she voiced she sounded a little less confident, as if terrified that each comment would change Nigel's mind. She had never been married before, wasn't ready to give up on her first one. Although she couldn't imagine a better person to be married to than Nigel, she wasn't exactly used to couple-dom, it had been years since she had shared a living space with someone and suddenly becoming one half of a permanent 'couple' was daunting. That didn't mean she wouldn't put the effort in, if that's what it took to keep her first marriage, especially one to someone as close as Nigel, going.  
  
"Well," Nigel answered finally, "we don't have to tell everyone straight- away. We could take some time to get used to it ourselves, maybe just forget about the marriage part u-until we're used to the dating bit. That way we can both get used to it, instead of giving up all independence immediately."  
  
Sydney had to agree with the plan; it was the best way to do this. That way, if no-one knew about the marriage, they wouldn't be as pressured into acting like they were. It would also give proof later on that they could work just as well together as newlyweds as just when they were friends.  
  
She lifted her head of her rapidly numbing arm and placed her head next to Nigel's on his pillow.  
  
"I think I could cope with that, would you be okay with that arrangement?"  
  
"Yes." He nodded firmly. "I think we both need to brush up on our giving and taking and all the other things that define a marriage."  
  
They lifted their already nose to nose faces so that their lips brushed against each others, but pulled away as the familiar feeling of lyrical harmony washed over them. Strains of music floated into the room, so low that a normal person would have wanted to turn the volume up. It was so soft it was almost an echo, a strain of music that would be classed as something like a reprise in a musical. Syd smiled wanly and reached over to stroke the hair just above Nigel's ear, as one would to a sleepy child.  
  
When they finally started to sing, it was without the drama and revelations of before, now it was as if they were just humming along to a radio, an active part, but not the most noticeable. Nose to nose, they sung the words softly, as though whispering in song.  
  
"Will I be there when you call me in the middle of the night?  
  
Will I keep the rain from falling down into your life?  
  
I promise, I promise  
  
I promise, I will."  
  
Sighing as the magical music swirled away; they fell back into a peaceful slumber.  
  
**************  
  
Okay, so that was sappy, but I was in a sappy mood. I promise, next chapter there will be some real action.  
  
Thank you to all those who waited patiently for me to get into gear and write this. I hope it was worth the wait.  
  
Thank you for reading, please, please read and review. 


	20. Conversations with Claudia

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.  
  
********************  
  
"Excuse me? Are either of you two Professor Fox or Mr. Bailey?" The blonde air hostess had been enquiring politely around the plane, she now addressed Nigel directly.  
  
"Yes, I'm Nigel Bailey. W-what's the matter?"  
  
"There's been an emergency it seems, your secretary has been demanding to talk to one of you on the in flight phone for the last five minutes. It seems she has some bad news. Would you or Professor Fox care to take the call."  
  
"I will." Nigel stood, glancing over at Syd, who despite their slow start to the day, was dozing in her seat.  
  
Nigel followed the woman to the area with the phone, a bemused assistant was holding the phone about a foot from her head and Nigel wasn't surprised, he could hear the non-stop, fast talking, barely pausing for breath, angry voice of Claudia.  
  
Holding the phone as if it were likely to explode he lifted it to his ear.  
  
"I don't care if it's against regulations, I have to talk to them now! If you had any idea how important this is you'd probably drop dead of shock so go get one of them now before I get comfortable because believe me I can keep talking like this all day." Nigel took this break in the stream of words to interrupt.  
  
"Claudia? What's going on?"  
  
"Whoo! Finally some service! Well I've got news for you, your grandmother's dead." Nigel who had been absently blanking out all the parts that weren't a tirade about the airline company paused totally non-plussed.  
  
"Pardon? Claudia, no offence, but I realised that eleven years ago, why are you telling me now?"  
  
"I know." She answered. "But they only let you phone if there's been a big emergency, so I had to invent one because this is really important. I need you to turn around, you see, because the museum got a letter from the thieves who stole the box, they wanted a ransom for it. Mr. Matthews was very kind and let me have a copy of the letter and envelope, and I took it to an ex-boyfriend who's a PI, how cool is that? I mean, he once broke into some top secret government files because I asked him if he could, it was *way* cool, like dating James Bond, but when I asked him if he could break into Zeal (that's a very exclusive salon for your information) and cancel a few important appointments for me, so that if I played my cards right and called early I could get a session at the same time as *Julia Roberts*, he was all like 'no way, I could get into trouble'. I just *had* to dump him. I mean, okay, so the sex was good, well, what am I saying, it was better than *good*, but when a guy won't hack into a computer for his girlfriend, what's the world coming to?" Nigel decided that enough was enough and tried valiantly to steer Claudia back onto topic.  
  
"The letter, Claudia? Did he find anything?"  
  
"Oh yeah, the letter was sent from Germany, and he did a handwriting check and found that name and address of the sender, so you need to turn around and fly back to Germany."  
  
"Germany?!" Nigel spluttered. "We're in the middle of a flight back to America, it's not like I can go up to the pilot and say 'oh by the way, we've changed our mind and want you to fly us back to Europe'."  
  
"Don't blame me! It's not my fault they picked such a lame place to hide out. I only found out about ten minutes ago so it's not like I could've called before you left. Anyway, gotta go, I met this guy who works for Mr 'I won't break into one measly salon's computer', he's *so* hot, and he said that with a little fiddling he could totally clear this heinous parking ticket, all because I told the meter-maid that her shoes, while functional, could benefit from a slightly raised heel, because flat shoes are so. . ."  
  
"Goodbye Claudia." For the millionth time he wondered how one tiny little girl could say so much, so fast.  
  
"Oh, bye Nige, say hi to Syd for me, I want all the details of the hunt when you get back, did you get threatened by any hot guys? Anyway, I have a date to prepare for, gotta go." Just as Nigel was about to put the phone down to be rewarded with the blissful quiet he always felt after Claudia put the phone down, he heard her add an extra comment.  
  
"Oh, Nige, if you were a P.I, would you prefer me in strappy sandals which say 'I can do the Bond girl thing, while still looking amazing', or in stiletto ankle boots which would say 'I can look sexy, but still can beat the crap out of you'?" Nigel really, really wished that Sydney had been awake, she probably wouldn't have minded listening to Claudia's relationship saga, or answering odd questions about shoes. He didn't even *know* women could buy stiletto ankle boots.  
  
"I'm sure he'll prefer it if you do the talking and not the footwear." And he put the phone down before she could comment any further.  
  
He thanked the flight staff and made his way back to his seat, well, things were certainly getting interesting, he would remember this relic hunt for the rest of his life and no mistake. It appeared that they would be flying straight back out to Germany, something his body would not relish so soon after two three fairly long flights. Still, if it got rid of the curse of the boxes, he would be quite happy. Okay, two of them hadn't been so bad, but still, having to worry constantly about bursting into song was unnerving. Especially since it was his turn to sing.  
  
"Nigel, you're back." Sydney appeared to have woken not long after he'd answered the phone. In a lowered voice he told her what Claudia had found out.  
  
"Germany? Neither of them seemed the sort of person to live there, are you absolutely sure?"  
  
"That's what Claudia said." He replied.  
  
They discussed this new development for a while before deciding on getting some sleep. If they were to make another transatlantic flight within the week, they would need it.  
  
******  
  
Okay, so this was short, but I needed to write something, and I just love writing Claudia, I hope you felt she was in character.  
  
More soon, thank you for reading, please review. 


	21. Tea with relic thieves

The 4 boxes.  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you; Kharma for reviewing, it means a lot to me.  
  
********************  
  
To say Sydney was tired was an understatement, in fact, the last time she had been in a bed was in Paris. Since that pleasant time, she had been on two eight hour flights, had had the fun of dealing with three hectic airports, and had spent the last hour and a half driving around Germany without the slightest clue where she was going.  
  
She wanted to go and collapse in a warm hotel bed, preferably sharing it with Nigel. She had slept, but not deep enough to remove any fatigue and even if she took a nap right now, she would be even more sluggish in the hour and a half it took to get back on her feet.  
  
They were now parked outside the address given to the by Claudia, owned by one Mallory Sumner. Nigel was sitting next to her, looking around at the large house and almost certainly as tired as she felt.  
  
"So what's the plan? I mean, it's a large house, but not large enough for us to sneak in undetected. We can't just go in and get it back can we?"  
  
Sydney had been thinking about this herself, and had been planning something.  
  
"No." She answered. "We're going to go and knock on the door and talk to them."  
  
"Pardon Syd? Excuse me, but I'm fairly certain that I heard you say, and I quote, 'we're going to go and knock on the door'. If I remember our one and only experience of them, they didn't strike me as people who would allow us to have a chat with them. Put a bullet into our stomach, now that I don't have any problem visualising. . ."  
  
"Nigel. . ." she tried to clam him down and vocalised her opinion. "They were leaving us a message. . ."  
  
"Damn right they were leaving us a message, they were saying 'come anywhere near us again and you'll be dead before you hit the ground.'"  
  
". . .they were leaving us a message" she carried on firmly "by writing that note by hand, they *knew* anyone with computer sills could find out this address."  
  
Nigel was very tired she knew, so she was trying very hard not to snap at his comments. She knew that they were well meant, but the snarky-ness in his tone was getting to her. She reminded herself that marriage or any partnership was based on give and take, and this was a time to take unless she wanted to rock the boat irreparably.  
  
"If they wanted us dead they could have killed us in Venice, but they didn't. We all know that it wouldn't be smart for them to kill us now, not when Claudia and a number of other people have the address of him. I really think they just want to talk."  
  
"Well why couldn't they have just sent us a message saying 'phone me'? Or we could have possibly organised a video conference."  
  
"Look Nigel," Her grip on her temper loosened slightly "you can always stay in the car."  
  
"I don't want to stay in the car; I just don't want you to die, or me to die because we're both tired and snappy. Let's just be careful shall we?"  
  
She calmed down again, and where she had been sitting stiffly, she relaxed into her seat.  
  
"I know, I'm just fed up of flights, and fed up of the ever constant threat of bursting into song. I just want to go home so we can get on with life."  
  
Nigel smiled sympathetically and made to move out of the car, putting an end to the conversation.  
  
"Fine, we'll do this, but you're ringing the doorbell."  
  
"Deal." Sydney grinned.  
  
They walked up the driveway slowly, as if expecting to be shot at any moment. When they reached the porch Sydney pressed the bell. It made a ding- ding sound, popular with middle-class people, and which always made Sydney think that the battery was failing.  
  
"Yes." The door was jerked open and the familiar blonde who had held them up answered through a sniffle.  
  
She looked different at home; the red leather pants and the black tight blouse were gone, as was the curled set femme fatale hair and stiletto heels. Now she wore a beige top with green flowers and a pair of darker brown trousers. Her make up was more natural, and her softer blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. In Sydney's mind, she was everything a thief wasn't. What was most noticeable about her though, was the red patches around her eyes and nose. Her mouth had the grim set of someone who has been crying for hours and doesn't intend to stop for some time.  
  
"It's you." She croaked. "I wondered if you would come. You might as well come in."  
  
To their surprise they were directed politely to the living room and were told to sit while their hostess prepared tea.  
  
A few seconds after the woman had left the man entered, looking much the same as he had before, although his clothes were toned down slightly and the sharpness had left him.  
  
Waiting for the woman to return, he sat in silence opposite them.  
  
While Sydney and Nigel sat on tenterhooks, waiting for some kind of answer, the woman returned with the tea and sat. The man was the first to speak.  
  
"I take it you know me, since you obviously tracked us here. Mallory, and this is my wife, Dolores."  
  
Sydney couldn't disguise a look of shock, if there was anyone in the universe who didn't look like a Dolores, it was this woman. Dolores must have been used to it, for she didn't comment despite the obvious shock of the Relic hunters.  
  
"Yes well, when we usually come to retrieve a relic from thieves, we don't normally get sat down to tea and a formal introduction. For God's sake Nigel, just take the cookie." Nigel had been eyeing one particular cookie since the tray had been sat down but was obviously too embarrassed to take it immediately, looking extremely embarrassed he picked it up.  
  
"S-sorry, but do you know how hard they are to get in the US?" He took a loud bite of the plain Digestive biscuit.  
  
"You can't retrieve it, at least, not from us." Mallory spoke for the first time, his voice shocked them both, gone was the harsh London drawl, in it's place was a gentle accent, very similar to Nigel's."  
  
"Why not?" She demanded. "Aside from you obviously not wanting us to have it?"  
  
The sound of the cup hitting the saucer followed by the splash as tea went everywhere was loud in the building tension.  
  
"I don't care whether you have the stupid box or not. Hell, if it were here, I'd give it to you myself with pleasure." Dolores dumped the tea back on the table and glared at her guests.  
  
"Pardon me, but if you don't want the box, why did you steal it? And what about your sudden change of appearances?" Nigel's voice did the equivalent in tone of saying 'Not that I don't like the new looks, believe me I prefer them to the other ones and while I'm at it can I thank you for the biscuit before you kill me for wanting the box?'  
  
"We didn't steal it for us, we were made to!" She snapped. "We had to, it was either that or, or. . . I couldn't let it happen, I just couldn't." Mallory was at her side immediately, rocking her as she sobbed into his chest.  
  
"Spiro Lazlo." Mallory spoke over her head. "He's the b*stard you want, he has the damn box."  
  
When Dolores spoke, her voice stilled the room.  
  
"He took our son."  
  
*******  
  
I think there's going to be another four or five chapter, I'll write them as soon as I can, I should have another up tomorrow.  
  
Thank you for reading, please review. 


	22. rescue mission

The four boxes by Emmylou  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Archive; if you want it, take it, but just send an email so I can go look.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you; Razial, Beth, Dramawriter. Aryea and Jemma for the reviews.  
  
********************  
  
"He kidnapped your son?" Well, this couple were just full of surprises. Nigel tried to look sympathetic but inquisitive.  
  
"Why you? Why kidnap the son of total strangers? And why not just take him to the police if you know who has him?" Sydney asked.  
  
Mallory took the cup that had been slammed down by his wife and added in another three sugars; then he placed it back in her hands and made her take a few shaky sips.  
  
"Because we used to work for him." She made a noise as if to sniff the tears back up. "It's how we met." Dolores' voice strained against another wave of teary hysterics. Mallory seemed to sense this and went on to explain.  
  
"We were the one's who'd steal the art or antiques and get them back to Spiro. We were good, you may have got a hint of that the other week. But we were getting old; we wanted to retire from the thieving. Spiro was very gracious about it; he even paid for our wedding." The phrase was accompanied by a humourless laugh. "And so we settled into proper jobs, moved away from America and settled down."  
  
"Then last week Callum was snatched away from us, we were at the fair, he'd- he'd been begging to go for days." She sniffled again.  
  
"We searched all day. Then when it was too late, we got back home to a message from *him* saying that we had to find you and take one of the boxes, when he got it, we'd get our son back."  
  
"But let me guess, you've not got him back?"  
  
"No, he said that we won't get him back until he gets his money."  
  
"Um, this may be a stupid question, but why doesn't he just ransom your son? I'm sure you'd pay a lot more for him than a museum would for a silly box." Dolores gave the assistant a look that clearly stated that she thought he had just dropped in from mars.  
  
"And you've spent how long around antiques? You should now by now that most men will sell their soul if it means that they get their paws on a priceless relic. Anything we could offer would be like buttons in comparison." Nigel nodded, not finding anything amiss with that. "Please, please, just get the museum to pay. I can't loose my son;I don't want him to profit either, but I just can't take that risk."  
  
Syd didn't want any harm to come to the boy either, but wasn't going to let this Lazlo get away with theft and kidnap. She glanced above where Dolores was sitting, there were Mallory and Dolores with a small boy. They were smiling and looked every inch the perfect family. Syd vowed she would get that boy back to his parents.  
  
"Don't worry, we will get him back safe. We've been in much worse situations that this before. But we need you to tell us all you know about Lazlo, where he lives, where he would keep the box, etc."  
  
Dolores seemed to be teetering on the edge of a decision, fiddling with her outfit, her cup and a nearby cushion, before she finally nodded and gestured for her husband to tell.  
  
************  
  
Whoo, that was hard to write, lemme tell you. I realise that this chapter is fairly boring and short, but I really had terrible writers block. You will be pleased to know that I have finally planned this out and that there will be seven more chapters. I'm actually quite interested in doing a sequal, but I'm not sure if you'd want me to do one.  
  
Anyway, thank you for reading, please review. 


	23. conversations and chinese

The four boxes by Emmylou  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Archive; if you want it, take it, but just send an email so I can go look.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you: Kharma and Kazuki Landen for the reviews.  
  


* * *

  
"No Nigel." Her arms were crossed and she was leaning against her desk to hide the fact that she was swaying ever so slightly.  
  
"Syd, think about it, you're being ridiculous." He wheedled. "We can't just burst in their without any idea what we're doing, especially when neither of us have slept in a bed in over three days." He tried to think of another excuse. "Besides which, how do you expect to fight anyone when you can barely stand from jet lag?"  
  
In order not to give in and to give herself time to think up some excuses she tried to change the subject.  
  
"Nige, I'm fine. I really think that we should have let Dolores and Mallory come as well. It's their little boy. And," she added triumphantly "imagine what could happen to him if we wait a whole day to try and rescue him."  
  
"And imagine what would happen to us if we don't. I'm sure that Dolores and Mallory would feel a lot better knowing that their only son is going to be rescued by someone who is wide awake and knows what they're doing, than the two of us half asleep without any idea what to do."  
  
Damn, Sydney paced around her office trying to shake herself awake, Nigel always had an answer for everything. This time she could really see where he was coming from, but her mind was too caught up with worry for the poor little boy.  
  
"I'll tell you what Syd, if we're still alive in a week, I'll buy you that knife you were after from that catalogue."  
  
"I can afford my own knife." She mumbled.  
  
"*and* I'll let you test it out the next time we see Stewie"  
  
"And off to bed we go, I mean I go, I mean..."  
  
"The important thing is that we *go*." He smiled weakly.  
  
"Can we get Chinese?"  
  
"Absolutely."  
  
As usual, when you're ready to drop you're so tired, you can never get to sleep. Which is why after leaving the office two hours before, neither Sydney nor Nigel had even made an effort to rest.  
  
They were both sitting on her living room floor, throw pillows strewn around them, with, very helpfully, maps of Lazlo's mansion that had been provided by Mallory.  
  
"Couldn't we get in through that window Syd? That's near enough to the stairs that lead to the vault." He pointed at an entry point on the ground floor.  
  
"No. Remember what Mallory aid, he hates having windows open, and they're all double glazed. It'd be a nightmare to get in through one without attracting attention."  
  
"What about the garage? He won't have had there double glazed would he?"  
  
Syd had to admit that Nigel was right, getting in anywhere else would be impossible. It would have to be the garage.  
  
"We'll have to try I guess."  
  
The doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of their meal. It was paid for and soon they were sitting back down on the ground again to eat the food.  
  
"Are you sure it's okay to eat here? I mean i-it's a very nice cream carpet, I wouldn't want to ruin it."  
  
"Don't worry about it Nige, I don't. Put a cushion on your lap if you're really worried though."  
  
They ate in a pleasant silence.  
  
"So..." Syd spoke carefully, managing to turn the comfortable silence into a slightly awkward one by just dragging out one syllable. "After we've sorted out these boxes, will we be living together? That's what married couples do, right?"  
  
There was a pause in which Nigel tried to rearrange the words in his head to make an understandable sentence.  
  
"Do y-you *want* us to live together?" Sydney wanted to seem strong and in control but this was a whole new territory for her. She hadn't shared a living space with anyone for a long time, she doubted Nigel had either.  
  
"I don't know. I *really* want this to work out. I always thought that when I did marry, it would be forever..."  
  
"And then you got caught up in a spell and were forced to marry a geeky English bloke."  
  
"Well, to be fair, I probably would have done it with or without the spell, eventually." She grinned and tried to lighten the mood. "Anyway, spell or not, I really want this to work. It's just...I don't know. We're still new to the couple thing; the married part is not something either of us can deal with just yet." Nigel was nodding to this. "And there's other factors. We still have to work together, and relic hunting is demanding enough without the extra worry of dating each other."  
  
A period of silence followed this.  
  
"Oh forget that. When can you move in?"  
  
"P-pardon? Move in? What happened to 'not something either of us can deal with yet'?" The shock of her statement had had Nigel choking on the last of his juice.  
  
"Well it all sounded reasonable, but at that rate we'd never become a real couple. We'd be awkward and grow apart, our lives are too insane for reasonableness." Nigel didn't want to admit it, but Sydney was right. Living apart would only enforce the feeling that they weren't really a couple. And then it would be all too easy to forget what had happened.  
  
"I thought the whole plan sounded far too normal for us." He conceded finally.  
  
If Sydney heard this, she didn't show it. She seemed lost in a world of planning.  
  
"You'd have to move in here, we could use all three bedrooms. You'd have one room, I'd have the other, and we'd have one room to share. That way we'd still have our own space and we wouldn't have to invade the other's privacy. What do you think?"  
  
"W-wait? How did we get from living apart to living together in ten seconds flat?"  
  
"You don't want to move in?" Nigel cringed, this was the first time he'd ever really seen her vunerable, and now he was messing it up.  
  
"Well yes, of course I do, but there's lots of other factors..."  
  
"If you feel threatened by having to leave your home, I understand. I only suggested here because it had three bedrooms...or maybe it would be a better idea to move out of both apartments totally...we could maybe buy a new place, a house perhaps."  
  
"You American woman certainly move quickly...friend to lover to husband and moving in together in less than five days. I'm waiting for the two point four children to suddenly run in and complete the picture." It had meant to be a joke, Nigel had *intended* it to be a joke, but somehow his slight panic had seeped in and Sydney had not only noticed, but was looking totally broken.  
  
"God Nige, I'm so sorry. It's just that when I think of marriage, I think house, white picket fence, perfection. And I guess I just saw this as a quick way of getting something I really wanted. I just, I never, I never thought I'd get it. I'd have boyfriend after boyfriend, affair after affair, and I never found that one person who I could see myself having all that stuff with. I'm not saying that I wanted to become a domestic goddess, but I wanted just a little part of that life. And you seemed like the perfect option, a lovely man who I really truly love."  
  
Nigel couldn't have formed a sentence then if you'd handed him the Holy Grail. He was aware that he'd just seen a real true piece of Syd, something that he doubted many had been allowed to see. But she was looking so hurt, so, so, not afraid as such, but a sort of resigned sadness. The look of a puppy that *knows* it's about to be kicked. He had to do something, anything to show his appreciation.  
  
He kissed her.  
  
He was really trying to come up with something profound to say, something wonderful that would show how much he loved and cared for her and how he longed to be with her. But somehow the whole thing got twisted on the way down to his mouth so that what he actually said was;  
  
"I just put my hand in the sweet and sour."  
  
"Oh really."  
  
No, no, no, he kicked himself, of all the stupid, pathetic, idiotic, un- sensitive things to say...  
  
"No! Well yes, I did put my hand in the sauce, but that wasn't what I meant to say.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"What I meant to say was, was that you're a wonderful woman and I want to share the perfect life with you. But I think that right now isn't a good time for this, we're in the middle of a relic hunt, we've got a really stressful day tomorrow and we're are both suffering jet-lag of extreme proportions." Well, that was slightly better. "I'm not going anywhere, we have years to sort this out. Years to settle down and become the perfect yuppie couple." He tried to add something on to make her more confident again. "Um, and everyone wants their own slice of domestic heaven deep down, I know I do. So stop worrying, I think we both need sleep."  
  
Sydney had been listening raptly, her head using the seat of the chair like a pillow, her brown eyes staring intently at him, looking for all the world like a child being told a story.  
  
"Thank you Nige. I really needed to hear that." The smile was faint but definitely there "Come on, lets get some sleep."  
  


* * *

  
That chapter was even harder to write, you know my terror of writing mushy scenes. Hope this one is good.  
  
thsnk you for reading please review. 


	24. oopsy

The four boxes by Emmylou  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Archive; if you want it, take it, but just send an email so I can go look.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you: jemma and Reven Eid or the reviews  
  
********************  
  
Next to the enormous solid looking house the garage looked more like a shack used by teenagers as a place to jam than a place to store expensive cars. Peering through the laughably unstable windows they could see three Mercedes polished enough to shine even in the fading light.  
  
Mallory's information had been right, the mansion was pretty much sealed up, every window, door and skylight was double-glazed, and from the look of it all had been loaded up with enough alarms to wake the entire country.  
  
The place was a mansion, and considering the amount of guards the place had, there were certainly some expensive items inside.  
  
"Who says crime doesn't pay?" Sydney peered thoughtfully through the windows, trying to locate alarms that might go off.  
  
"They probably don't pay the guards very much, that one back there seemed to be vying for a pay rise, what was he getting do you think; a dollar per punch?" Nigel scowled in the direction they had come, a guard doing his late evening patrol had had a little encounter with Sydney's boot, as a result of which, he wouldn't be bothering them for a few hours.  
  
"He wasn't aiming for you Nigel, he was confused by that first blow to the head, he was bringing his fist back to punch a tree, it wasn't his fault you were directly behind him."  
  
"Hm" Nigel sniffed. "Well, it would have been a lot better if he'd had some clue how to get us into this place. You never know, one false move and a load of klaxons will start."  
  
"What were you expecting?" She lowered her voice conscientiously. "A book in his pocket called 'breaking and entering for dummies'?"  
  
"It sounds like the kind of reading material someone like him would appreciate."  
  
"Poor Nigel, you're still bitter about your jaw." Sydney took her flashlight and thrust the light against the glass; still no answers about how to enter appeared.  
  
"Well it did hurt you know, thank you *so* much for your concern by the way. If I were an insecure person I might think that you were fed up of me already."  
  
"What if I *am* fed up of you?"  
  
"Tough."  
  
She grinned, not tearing her eyes away from the glass.  
  
"Good answer." She was getting fed up of waiting around, if they had been in some cave somewhere trying find a lost statue of whatever they would have been in and out already. "Oh forget this, I'm going in, you wait out here, if nothing happens, follow me in."  
  
The flashlight went out as it was punched through the glass. The plastic edge was used to swipe any stray edges of glass away from the frame. With one swift move she jumped through the window and launched strait into a fighting stance.  
  
The room stayed suspiciously quiet. No alarms, no flashing lights, no running guards; it didn't look so much like a mansion than a shed filled with cars.  
  
She turned towards the clattering that was Nigel climbing through.  
  
"It doesn't look like anyone's noticed us. Not yet anyway."  
  
"Yes, well I doubt that it will be this easy in the rest of the house."  
  
Sydney strode across to the door leading to the rest of the mansion, Nigel followed, casting and admiring look towards one of the sporty blue cars. Slowing down as she reached the exit, her body switching from confident and powerful to cautious and careful. She pulled open the door a crack and peered through.  
  
The door led into the hallway, as they already knew, the lights were out and the room felt echo-y, like a library but without the books. The only way to get to the vault with the box inside was to cross the area and go up the stairs, which would leave them vulnerable if there was someone hiding in the shadows. Still, they had to risk it.  
  
The plan was pretty simple, they would get the box, then once they were out of there they would use it as a bargaining chip to get the boy back. Of course, if they failed to get the box in the first place then the plan would be totally useless.  
  
"You know what this strikes me as?" Nigel murmured. "A really bad time to burst into song."  
  
"Gotta agree with you there." She answered, equally as quietly.  
  
"Shame really I think we'd all enjoy a show right now."  
  
The voice was new. Sydney's foot was on the second step, she stopped, debating whether to dive for the second floor or not.  
  
"I wouldn't attempt it Ms. Fox. You have eleven guns all trained on you and your associate."  
  
"Number one, say that when all the lights are on, second, he's my husband, so there." Nigel who was still frozen mid-step chuckled with part humour and mostly terror. The flashlight that was aimed for her face temporarily blinded her as the beam hit her eyes. She stuck her tongue out for good measure and opened the left eyes just a crack.  
  
"Very well Ms. Fox, have it your way. Lights!" The flashlight was switched off, and before Sydney could take advantage of that the main lights were awakened, bringing twelve men into view, only one of them didn't hold a gun.  
  
"Lemme guess. You're Lazlo." She spoke to the unarmed man. "Thought you would be, my powers of deduction amaze even me sometimes." Lazlo was tall, and well dressed, he looked like he belonged in Hollywood, drinking champagne with stars, than threatening a pair of relic hunters. His smile conjured up the thought that if a smile could be described as well manicured, his would be.  
  
"As you can see Ms. Fox, or should I say, Mrs. Bailey, I'm just not one to bluff."  
  
"So, what's going to happen to us? You're planning to tell us in excruciating detail what's about to happen to us right? They always do."  
  
"I'd rather not waste my breath Mr. Bailey, you'll find out soon enough, why spoil the surprise?" The white haired man flashed another manicured smile. "I must say though, your attempt to break in was one of the best I've seen in a while."  
  
"How did you find us then?" Sydney asked, desperately stalling for time.  
  
"Oh I knew the minute you attacked Carl outside while he was patrolling the west sector- after that it was just a game of hurry up and wait really."  
  
"See Nige, what have I always taught you? Never trust a man who uses the word 'sector' in cold blood."  
  
"Well Ms. Fox stroke Mrs. Bailey, you're just adorable. But enough chit- chat." He called to the nearest guard "Get them, tie them up and follow the orders I gave you earlier. Oh and Mr. Bailey? Which car did you like best out of the three you saw in the garage?"  
  
"Err, the b-blue one, wh-"  
  
"Capital."  
  
Even with her fighting skills, Sydney had no hope in hell of winning a fight against eleven armed men, she had no choice but to allow them to have there arms and legs tied and be carried towards the garage.  
  
The last thing she heard from Lazlo was him saying;  
  
"Oh and cover up that window, otherwise it won't work."  
  
*******  
  
More will be posted soon  
  
Thank you for reading please review. 


	25. panic and poisoning

The four boxes by Emmylou  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Archive; if you want it, take it, but just send an email so I can go look.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you:  
  
********************  
  
Sydney's struggles had stopped when she'd had a hefty gun pointed at her forehead, and so she was putting all her effort into being as heavy and awkward to carry as possible. They were being carried back into the garage, one of the thugs got to covering up the window, while the others shoved them into the back seat of the car of Nigel's choice.  
  
Within two minute it became horrifically apparent what was about to happen, a thug moved to each of the cars and started the engine, while another made sure that the gas wouldn't escape through the hastily fixed window.  
  
Within minutes they were tied in place, the car windows wide open and no way of escape.  
  
"Syd, I hope to god you've got a plan, because I sure as hell haven't"  
  
Sydney was tugging at her restraints with little or no success. Unfortunately for them the thugs had been professional; no loose knot was going to help them today.  
  
"If I could just get...A...bit...free...ugh, it's no good."  
  
"How long have we got?"  
  
"With one car...maybe two hours...with three...thirty, maybe forty minutes."  
  
"Thirty minutes! Syd! What are we going to do?!" He started yanking at his own bonds now.  
  
He was panicking, which although understandable, was no use to them. At the rate he was carrying on he would become unconscious even faster than she had predicted. She couldn't make his panic go away, and even worse, she couldn't get them out of there, but she could stop him wriggling about and yelling. Syd leaned over and kissed him. It wasn't a great kiss. His panic mixed with their awkward positions made it more than a little uncomfortable, but it had the desired effect. Nigel sat still, the look of terror was still on his face, but he wasn't acting on blind panic any more.  
  
"Firstly Nigel, we don't panic. The more we panic, the more carbon monoxide we breathe in. If we panic, we'll fall unconscious quicker, if we stay calm, we might find a way out of here."  
  
Nigel nodded.  
  
"Okay." She continued. "I can't reach either of our ropes, can you get to mine?"  
  
Nigel started to wriggle, this time much more purposely, he twisted and turned but still he couldn't reach the ropes.  
  
Ten minutes later, they were both sitting still. Nigel had been unable to loosen any set of ropes. The gas was affecting them more now, giving them headaches and making their chest pound whenever they breathed in. Both were slumped back, the monoxide making them too sleepy to do much now that it had started to take effect.  
  
Then Sydney started to cough.  
  
It was only a small weak cough, but every ten or so seconds it would start up again. Nigel was shocked beyond belief. It wasn't that she was coughing that shocked him, it was the fact that she was doing it first. He knew logically that she was female and therefore had smaller lungs, but he would have always assumed that he would be the first one affected, she was the strong one, who always had the answers...but she was becoming weaker faster. And that scared him.  
  
Every time they'd been in a bad situation he'd always known deep down that they would be okay, but now Syd, the strongest person he knew, was becoming more and more affected by the poison.  
  
"Oh god Syd." He choked. A sob hurtling through his body. "No, this isn't fair. I finally thought I had everything, and now it's being taken away from me. God, I so wanted what you were talking about. The house together, the perfect life, maybe children and pets...and now we're not going to get that. I thought these stupid boxes were made by a prankster, well, ha ha, big joke on us. It certainly hasn't turned out very funny for me."  
  
Sydney turned to him. Her head was leaning against the head rest and her eyes were starting to droop.  
  
"Nigel...no! You can't do this, we don't need the...meaningful talk. I *love* you. Do you know how hard that is for me to...say to any man? It's really, really hard. But I have finally found someone who I love, someone who loves me too. That's really special, and I'm not going to taint that by going out on...bittersweet...apologies and 'if onlys'...we're as strong as...we ever...were." After that speech that seemed to have been as hard on her heart as it had been on her lungs she broke into a deeper fit of coughing.  
  
Nigel gave what would have been a gentle smile if he hadn't been interrupted by a bout of gravel dry coughs. "How much more time have we got?" He managed to splutter out, how Sydney was going to answer was a mystery as she could barely stop coughing and gagging enough breathe in the infected air which was by now about ninety percent carbon monoxide.  
  
"T...en..." She could barely get the word out, but she seemed determined to struggle on with the 'minutes' part. Nigel nodded hastily to prevent her straining her self by carrying on.  
  
She slumped back, determined to carry on.  
  
"Strong......we're strong...se..ven ...minutes Nigel..." The last word just faded out, there was no big sigh, no soft smile, she just went from sleepy to unconscious without ceremony.  
  
All concern for his own immediate welfare slipped away as Nigel went straight into panic again.  
  
"Syd?!"  
  
"Syd! Come on, wakey wakey!"  
  
"Sydney!" Unable to shake her with his hands tied he started jumping up and down, yelling through the spluttering coughs that were straining his body. The car rocked, but it made no difference."  
  
"SYD!"  
  
***  
  
Haha... I'm evil aren't I?  
  
More will be posted soon. 


	26. who needs a superhero anyway?

The four boxes by Emmylou  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Archive; if you want it, take it, but just send an email so I can go look.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you: Gqlover2003, Reven Eid, jemma, and airefree051 for the reviews  
  
********************  
  
In the stunned seconds after Syd had fallen unconscious, Nigel saw his life flash before his eyes. Not his childhood or his life in London, not previous relic hunts, not even the recent wonderful time in Paris. What he did see was his future, or at least the future that had been so nearly in his grasp. The one with family, a nice house, more relic hunts, recognition as a couple, and children. Oh god, children, pets, cats, dogs, children playing with hamsters, an amusing scenario in which a hamster had made an escape into their bedroom, nights out with Syd, even cosier nights in with Syd, Syd with him all the time, sharing her precious life with him.  
  
He had stopped screaming now, which surprised even him, because once it became apparent she wasn't waking up it seemed that all he was doing by it was making himself deteriorate faster, not that he really cared, but he really wanted to be alone in his head now without his shouts disturbing him.  
  
And he kept his eyes screwed shut, not wanting to look at the unconscious body that represented what he couldn't have now, but wanted to go out with the precious dreams of what could have been. There was so much he wanted to see, to do, and now as one final joke the supreme prankster Gustopher had put it within his grasp as the gods had offered water to Tantalus only to take it so cruelly away.  
  
But as he felt the body of her slump so finally towards him he found himself unable to think of anything but her, spinning every second he had ever spent with her through his mind while still chocking on the poisonous gas. The life *he* should have had suddenly wasn't so important anymore, what was killing him was the thought of the life she *deserved*, in her short years she had given so much, and had never once taken anything she shouldn't have. She had saved him so many times, and now he would never get the chance to save her.  
  
Unless...his mind managed to hack up a feeble idea through the clouds of gas that hung humidly in the air...unless he could save her...maybe if he hurried she might still survive...what had he to loose?  
  
What was left of his mind didn't waste time questioning his thoughts, but concentrated on staying awake through the haze, his idea burned through his head refusing to let his attention be drawn away. He forced himself to move, but his body was only responding half-heatedly to his desperate request. He had to use his head before it got swept away to never-never land on a toxic cloud.  
  
Nigel groped behind him on the seat...trying not to get carried away in trying to see if Sydney was breathing in and out or not...which was a worrying though that had settled in a much needed sane space in his head and was niggling at him hysterically. Still he searched for something that could help him out.  
  
Then his wrist banged into something fairly sharp, not enough to cut him, but enough to give him what felt like a friction burn.  
  
Nigel had no clue what it was actually, and he wasn't going to waste precious seconds watching his new wife waste away because he wanted to look a gifted horse in the mouth or something to that effect. He just began rubbing it against the tight cords until he was sure it would catch on fire and his head would roll of from the shaking.  
  
It took less time than he imagined, the desperation spurning him forwards.  
  
To his wrists regret he yanked the worn cords apart before he'd even made it to halfway through them. And the shock to his body had him slumped in exhaustion against the back seat, he was so tired. And the exertion was forcing him to rasp even more of toxin into his body. He wanted to collapse, to give into sleep, but the weight of Sydney's head pressed against his shoulder kept prickling at him.  
  
His hands were free, and Nigel realised that they hadn't locked them into the cars. He could, with one big burst of energy carry Syd towards the tarpaulin covered window, throw her and himself through it and collapse, but to his body it seemed like a gargantuan effort, still, he had to try. If he had learned nothing else from Syd it was never to go down without a fight.  
  
After the third try the opener opened and he fell out of the car, the wave of gas hitting him was even stronger in the garage, and he was sure for one horrible moment that the shed actually was on fire which would explain the foul smelling foggy smoke.  
  
Okay...sooo...after much effort he was on his feet, now he could leave....what was....wha' was...missing...it had been right...here...he was sure...oh! He stumbled back triumphantly towards the car and dragged Sydney out of it with a yank thank sent both her and him toppling backwards to the floor with the weight of her stopping him standing again.  
  
Oh great...he couldn't move...she never weighed that much before sure...sure...surely. The room twirled out of focus creating a pretty cloudy tornado behind his eyes. He was all out of struggle now...but hey...he'd tried...  
  
*********  
  
Oh I just get worse don't I? *insert evil laugh here*  
  
This chapter wasn't officially planned, but that's what ended up coming out.  
  
Seriously, thanks for reading, please review, I'm not sure about this chapter actually and I'd like your comments please. 


	27. the rescuers and the rescuees

The four boxes by Emmylou  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Archive; if you want it, take it, but just send an email so I can go look.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you: Gqlover2003, Reven Eid, jemma, Aryea and airefree051 for the reviews  
  
********************  
  
The icy air hit Sydney's lungs and for a few incomphensable seconds she was sure she was being frozen from the inside out. The sudden rush left her choking for more oxygen and as she was rewarded with a gurgle of acid coming up from her stomach.  
  
She was dropped onto the ground hastily as she began to vomit, and despite her excellent reflexes it took her a full five minutes of clinging to the dull mud she was crouched on to fight off the initial feeling of nausea.  
  
Then the most recent memories started to cling to the strands of her brain, giving a vague picture of what had gone on but very little else. Nigel, her, in a car, choking, blackness, cold air, vomit.  
  
"Nggh" She groaned, trying to shake off the mental weakness in the hopes of regaining a little physical strength. Actually she felt like she had a hangover, only without the added fun of getting drunk first. Hoping that by regaining use of her dry and foul tasting mouth something useful might come out of it she gabbled the first thing to come to mind.  
  
"Ngell" Ahh, so it seemed that consonants were fair game but vowels were a little too advanced for the minute.  
  
"Here Syd." She heard his dry gasp a little way in front of her, and the sound of his retching and groaning did nothing to help her own.  
  
It was quite a while before she registered the arms around her waste or the American accent in her ear firmly reminding her to breathe. She opened her eyes and through a haze of what seemed to be glue she saw a fist thumping Nigel on the back repeatedly.  
  
"Hey!" She called out pathetically and started to wiggle in the apparently feminine arms.  
  
"Well, she's awake at least." The British voice spoke softly, and in her fuzzy state she was proud to be able to identify that the voice was not Nigel's. "How are you feeling Ms. Fox?" The man had stopped thumping Nigel and was speaking to her now.  
  
"I think 'ugh', 'ack' and, 'nghh' just about cover it." She mumbled.  
  
"I'll see that,' a slightly primmer and wonderfully familiar voice called out "and raise you a sore knee."  
  
That was the Nigel she knew, obviously feeling well enough to make a snarky comment. She pushed the arms away and scrambled towards him.  
  
She took a look around to try and gather the mental processes need to figure out where they were. They were sitting, in Nigel's case collapsing, in a flowerbed. Nigel was leaning against what looked to be a brick wall. After some time she gathered that they were outside the shed they had been tied up in.  
  
In figuring this out she got a good look at the faces of their rescuers.  
  
"Mallory? Delores? How did you get here?"  
  
"Same way you did. Only we were better at it." Delores smiled wanly. "I have to thank you for what you were trying to do. Not many people would risk their lives to help someone else, especially someone who stole from them. So I want to thank you."  
  
"It's no problem." She helped Nigel take a swig of the water offered to him by Mallory. "We'd be awful people if we didn't want to help rescue Callum" She took a swig of the offered water at well.  
  
A slightly puzzled look crossed Dolores' face.  
  
"That is his name right?" Sydney offered. The moment of puzzlement seemed to pass.  
  
"Yeah, sorry, misheard you then, thought you were talking about something else." She seemed to look the two over. "Look, why don't you two head home, you had an extremely close call tonight, if it hadn't been for you managing to get out of the car, we wouldn't have been able to move you in time. You're-"  
  
"Whoa, wait a minute; we got out of the car? I don't remember that."  
  
"We found you both lying on the ground, I assumed you couldn't get out in time, or you were too confused. Nigel? Did you manage to escape?" Mallory looked critically at the man who was still gagging silently.  
  
Nigel seemed to become aware that all eyes were on him.  
  
"I-I think so, I d-dunno, it was all dark! I just remember grabbing Sydney, they slipping, t-then something heavy falling on me, then w-waking up out here. I don't remember escaping! Or the heavy thing."  
  
"That was Sydney." Mallory supplied.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Well it was, she was on top of you."  
  
"Anyway." Dolores intoned meaningfully. "Neither of you are at your best, and we have what we came for, we can do the rest alone now. You'll get the box back by the end of the night." Sydney was already protesting. There was no way she was going to let this end without her, not after everything that had happened. She had got married because of these boxes, she had found love, she had been tied up, attacked and made to sing publicly. There was no way she was letting the final one out of her sight now. There was a little boy in trouble because of this box, a frightened little boy who had been snatched away from his parents, and she wasn't going to allow something to go wrong for his sake.  
  
"No," She scrambled to her feet, Nigel obviously having the same thoughts as her, although with less success at the getting up part. "We'll see this through, you might need our help."  
  
Mallory and Dolores were at a loss as to how to stop them, and were weakened by the fact that neither of them were used to saying no to Sydney when she wanted them to say yes. Although Dolores put up a damn good fight, every rebuke was met with a firm no, there was no way the relic hunters could be persuaded to go home.  
  
Dolores and Mallory shared a look of part terror, part anger and Sydney pushed past them and climbed back into the Carbon Monoxide filled room with Nigel closely in tow.  
  
********************  
  
Really long authors notes today  
  
'The trinity gazette' is a really cool Relic hunter website- it's got a truly awesome message board which really needs some more members. Since it won't allow me to post the link just go to google and type in 'trinity gazette' and 'relic hunter'  
  
Also I have two bits of info to do with this story (both good)  
  
Firstly- I have plotted out a sequel to this fanfic, (and have just completed the first chapter) which is why there was a delay in posting this chapter. Would you be interested? It will be called 'Barren Land' and will have our relic hunters trying to cope with five new people tagging along on a hunt to find a relic that could solve a problem that haunts thousands of women.  
  
Here are some hints;  
  
Nigel nearly loosing his job, a friend of Sydney's murdered, a depressed teenager and a funky priest.  
  
Anyone interested in it?  
  
Secondly- I have a challenge for you all.  
  
You know that the chapters in this story start to get a little steamy around the second box (chapters 7-12) leaving plenty of room for a smutty NC-17 version...since my lack of age and experience prevent me from creating one myself, it is up to you, dear readers, to do it for me. You will of course get all the credit, all the praise, and best of all, all the fun of writing it.  
  
Specifics  
  
MUST be NSR  
  
Can take place at any time between chapters 7-12, and can differ from the original as much as you like so long as you get them back in one piece by chappy 12. If you can fit in a scene in chapter sixteen (when they have enhanced senses) you get an extra cookie. If you can find some way to make it anything other than PWP, go ahead, how you'll do it is beyond me.  
  
Extras  
  
you must use two or more of these;  
  
a thorn, an engagement ring, crushed ice, the song goodbye to you, a bottle of perfume, innocently ripped clothing, an aeroplane bathroom  
  
Please please please let me have the fun of reading this, I hope you have as much fun creating this as I still do when I write the original  
  
Anyway, thanks for reading, please review. I had a whole lot of trouble with this chapter, so I'd appreciate some comments 


	28. a kinda resolution

The four boxes by Emmylou  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Archive; if you want it, take it, but just send an email so I can go look.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you: Anonymous for the review  
  
********************  
  
"Shouldn't we switch of the engines?" Nigel looked towards the three others in the smoggy gas.  
  
"They didn't leave the keys, and right now that's the least of our problems." Mallory began pinning up the rough covering on the window.  
  
"You're covering that back up? Why?" said Sydney. She didn't like the idea of being trapped in the room again without an opening.  
  
"Because the longer we go unnoticed the better." Mallory's reply was filled with a panicked kind of antziness. Sydney could understand, after all, a lot was at risk for him. The thought of loosing a child terrified Sydney and she could not begin to imagine what the frightened pair must have been feeling for the past few weeks.  
  
Still, Nige and her were used to confrontations and so the more strategic area of her mind kicked in.  
  
Carefully, and trying to breathe as shallowly as possible in the furnace like atmosphere she moved to the less condensed are near the window, opened her mouth, and begun to yell with everything she had.  
  
"HELP!! STOP, PLEASE LET US GO!"  
  
The faces of those around her were a sight to be taken in. Nigel jumped and then looked frozen, with an almost calculating expression on his face, but Mallory and Delores acted on impulse. Mallory, being the nearest, lunged for her and clamped his hand down hard over her nose and mouth, Dolores being less near came in second as she attempted to shut the other female up.  
  
"You idiot!!" Mallory snarled as she struggled underneath his hand. "Do you *want* us to die?" Sydney got a rather unpleasant close up glimpse of his nostrils flaring.  
  
With a yelp from him, Sydney yanked the hand away from her face.  
  
"First of all, if you ever lay a hand on me like that again, I will make sure you'll regret it for every day of your life. I don't care how worried you are about your son, you do *not* manhandle me around."  
  
"Even when you're about to have us slaughtered?" Dolores hissed.  
  
"She was stopping us being caught actually." Nigel explained reasonably, wheezing slightly. "They left us in here to die; they won't come in until they can't hear us any more."  
  
"Yeah, well, it's still risky." Dolores snapped. "It draws unwanted attention."  
  
"Yes. What if they'd got fed up and decided to stop waiting for you to die and to hurry things along with a bullet?" Mallory glared thunderously at Sydney.  
  
Sydney's temper was flaring. She was used to situations like this, and so having to be told of like a naughty child was winding her up and not helping them in anyway.  
  
"It was necessary." She ground out. "I'm sorry if it unnerved you, but I only had you're son's interests in mind."  
  
"Yes well, when it comes to Connell, I think we know best, clear?" Dolores muttered furiously.  
  
Inside Sydney's head, something clicked its fingers for attention.  
  
"Perfectly." Even with the large amount of coughing, Nigel knew Sydney was up to something.  
  
"Well, er, I-I think we'd better get going." Nigel tried to integrate some positive feeling into the group. It had no effect other than to kick Sydney into action. She spun and began ripping down the covering for the window.  
  
"Yes Nige, that's a..." *cough* "...excellent idea. As fun as this has been, it's time both of us got home. Speaking personally, I have a big lecture tomorrow and spending large amounts of time in Carbon Monoxide filled rooms does nothing for my vocal projection."  
  
"W-We're going?" Nigel followed her to the window, but didn't move to climb over it as she had done. "But what about the boy?"  
  
"You heard the lady Nigel; she knows what's best for her son. I'm sure we'll only be a hindrance to them. After all, they know Lazlo, we don't. I'd hardly call those few minutes in the foyer a meeting."  
  
Dolores and Mallory stayed stubbornly silent through the curtains of hazy air.  
  
"Oh well, uh, I-I'm extremely sorry...really wish we could have been more help..."  
  
"Nigel!"  
  
"Coming Syd." He scrambled after her.  
  
They were a good way out into the darkness before either spoke.  
  
"I must say Syd; that was the most extraordinarily bad timing for a hissy fit ever."  
  
"Well, they didn't want us around; I was never one to ignore a hint."  
  
"Even when the box was at stake?"  
  
"Nigel, when have you known me to back down about anything? Besides which, we would never have got that box if we'd stayed."  
  
"Even so...wait! How did you figure that out? Okay, so that odds were a little stacked...well, a *lot* stacked..."  
  
"Just trust me Nigel." She grinned and removed a radio from her shirt. "Now, how well do you think you can imitate a butch guard?"  
  
********  
  
"Come in, come in." The voice crackled over the radio. "I see signs of movement by the...uh...east sector. Back up required."  
  
"How many needed?"  
  
"Just one should do it. Over and out."  
  
The guard nearest the east sector grumbled and headed in the direction of the disturbance.  
  
********  
  
"Why Sydney, are we informing our attackers where we are?" Nigel's frustrated whisper seemed loud and Sydney looked around carefully to detect any movement.  
  
"We're not informing them where we are, we're informing them where *they* are." Nigel paused as Sydney started back towards the garage.  
  
"They're guards Syd, they may not be the brightest creatures in the universe, but their geographical awareness can't be that bad."  
  
"Don't speak Nigel; we don't want to be found."  
  
They were back in the bushes outside the garage window, Sydney seemed happy to sit and wait for the moment, using her time to survey for any action.  
  
"I hope Dolores and Mallory are okay." The voice was gentler than before, heeding her request to remain quiet. Sydney opened her mouth to reply but slammed it shut as she heard movement from the window.  
  
"...You think they've gone?"  
  
"Yeah, did you see her, she was furious? Believe me; you wouldn't get them back here with guns to their heads." That was Mallory, answering Delores' worried question. He continued trying to sooth his wife. "Besides which, after the escapade in the car, neither were in any condition to fight."  
  
"Oh yeah Nige." Sydney breathed "I think good old Delores and Mallory are just *fine*."  
  
"Hello?!"  
  
The guard's voice was terrifying. Not because of its tone, this emitted a kind of half-hearted duty, but more because of the steady finality of it. It was a voice whose occupant had been told to crush skulls, and that body was going to crush skulls as though his life depended on it.  
  
Sydney and Nigel sunk lower into the bushes, not having been seen. But it was too late for Mallory and Delores, who were caught in the blinking flashlight.  
  
"Aren't we going to...mmhhm" Sydney's hand clapped over her new husbands mouth. The movement was almost exactly the same as Mallory's earlier attack, although hers was gentler and wasn't stopping Nigel breathing. Still, she recognised the similarity and removed the hand, replacing it quickly with her own lips.  
  
"Shh." She murmured.  
  
*smack*  
  
The punch to the face sent Delores staggering, and the only thing preventing Nigel from diving out to help was Sydney's quick reflexes.  
  
Mallory dived for the lumbering guard with a kick to the gut, bringing his elbow up as the guard came down automatically, knocking him to the ground.  
  
Mallory placed his foot squarely on the guard's back, but wasn't quick enough to pull back as the guard, who turned out to be a stronger fighter than thought, yanked his foot forwards so that the British man joined him on the ground.  
  
The pair grappled *punch*, *kick*, *knee to groin*, and Dolores was awake, but not ready to move yet.  
  
"Nigel, go pin Dolores where she is, we don't want her moving."  
  
"Wh-?"  
  
"You'll see."  
  
Nigel obediently went over to the down woman, placing his knee in her upper back and effectively stopping her from moving. She yelped and struggled, but Nigel's weight was at an advantage.  
  
Meanwhile Mallory had brought the guard to the floor and was holding him in a similar way to Nigel.  
  
Sneaking a hand down into his pocket, Mallory removed a small syringe and held it to the guard's neck.  
  
"You see this?" He spoke soothingly, in a purr that made Nigel's voice seem infinitely nicer. "This is going to send you to sleep, for considerably longer than any of Ms. Fox's punches ever could." He squirted just a quarter of the liquid into the mouth of his attacker, and by the time that he had removed the syringe the man was unconscious.  
  
He smirked and stood, leaving the fallen guard where he was.  
  
"Dolores, are you okay? That punch looked nasty." He squinted in the darkness. "Nigel? What the hell do you thin- OW!"  
  
"Hello Mallory. Going somewhere?"  
  
"Sydney! We thought you'd left." His voice came out with a kind of strangled joy.  
  
"I bet you did." She smiled sweetly at the crumpled man. "So, where is he then?"  
  
"W-who?" Mallory was wheezing through a bloody nose.  
  
"Callum! Or was it Connell? Colin perhaps? Because that's funny, you seemed to have given me two different names, and with him not being here right now after your heroic 'rescue', well, I'm starting to think he doesn't actually exist." She flashed another smile which was supposed to be unnerving and doing its job well.  
  
"Certainly with hips like that Dolores I'd be very surprised if you'd ever given birth." she sighed. "And with this poor imaginary kidnapped boy's name changing, it's easy to think you just made him up. Am I right?"  
  
"Wrong!" Delores called.  
  
"Yes, it was very wrong of you, wasn't it? Face it, the only reason you made him up was so you could get our help and then steal the box from us."  
  
"Yeah, well, I'd remember just who has the box before you go accusing people." Mallory spat.  
  
With a complicated flip, Mallory was up on his feet again and tackling Sydney to the ground.  
  
She rolled and punching him again, making the river of blood pouring from his nose worse and caking the stuff in her nails. After seeing this she grabbed his head and started smashing it against the grass rather childishly.  
  
"Do. You. Know. How. Long. It's going to take. To. Clean. Those? Each word was accompanied by a thump. Mallory wriggled free and shoved her backwards with a kick to the gut. She smashed her nearest heel into his ankle causing him to stumble and fall.  
  
"You Bi-!" Mallory was silenced with another punch to the face.  
  
The fight continued evenly for a few minutes, kick followed kick, punch followed punch, quip followed quip.  
  
Finally, Mallory was pinned in pretty much the same way as Delores.  
  
"You know what? You're right; I'm not really in a state to fight." Sydney spoke airily as though the last few minutes had been a dream. "So knocking you out my way is going to be tiresome. Still, I found this." She brandished the half used Syringe. "Apparently this knocks you out for even longer that a punch, well, never let it be said I'm not open to new methods." She smiled sweetly to the back of his head as shoved the needle in.  
  
When the liquid was half gone she removed it and passed the needle over to Nigel, who preformed the same act on the female below him.  
  
"Well, that was fun Syd." He sighed tiredly. "How about we just find the box and go home?"  
  
"Pizza this time?"  
  
"Sounds good to me."  
  
**********  
  
Sorry I was so late in posting this, I had the most enormous difficulty with this chapter.  
  
Thank you for reading, please review. 


	29. the end, actually

The four boxes by Emmylou  
  
Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me!  
  
Archive; if you want it, take it, but just send an email so I can go look.  
  
Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.  
  
PG/PG-13  
  
Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.  
  
Thank you: to everyone who has reviewed this story  
  
********************  
  
"So the boxes are all together again at the museum?" said Claudia.  
  
To her surprise two very tired and pale relic hunters had appeared in the office at nine that morning. After finding out what had happened yesterday, she had been surprised at them bothering to get out of bed at all, especially if what they were telling her about was true.  
  
"I suppose so; the curator there said that they all clicked together and made one bigger box, which I can only assume is a good sign."  
  
"You didn't want to be there when they were put together?"  
  
"Believe me Claudia, I never want to see those boxes again as long as I live. I'm just glad to be free again." Sydney was perched on the edge of Nigel's desk.  
  
"And since the four are together again it means that we won't be worrying, sensing, singing, or..."  
  
"Shagging?" At the shocked looks of the pair in front of her Claudia paused. What? That's how you say it in England right?"  
  
Yes, Sydney and Nigel were married. 'Shock' wasn't quite a strong enough word. The last thing she expected was the first comment Sydney made as the pair walked through the door 'Hi Claudia, just so you know, we got married last week.'  
  
That was one of the things about Sydney, if she was sure about something she just came out with it. After the brief explanation as to how this situation had come about- and establishing that it was going to remain that way, Claudia had recovered enough to be pleased for her friends.  
  
"So are you, like, going to go on honeymoon now? Or are you going to have a second ceremony, you know, for all the people who weren't there for the first?" At this she brightened. "I could be bridesmaid!"  
  
Sydney and Nigel exchanged a look.  
  
"Were not sure yet. We don't even know the university policy on relationships between staff-"  
  
"It's banned." Claudia deadpanned. "While you were gone I had to copy hundreds and hundreds of copies of the university policies- I could quote them backwards if you asked." This was accompanied by a roll of the eyes.  
  
"Oh. So we can't tell anyone?" Nigel said.  
  
"Of course you can tell people, you just have to make sure they don't tell the university. Maybe if you can prove to them you can work well together even though you're married they'll wave the stupid rule. Don't worry, I'll make sure you stay working together." Claudia shrugged and turned back to what she felt was the more important topic. "Anyway, about this second wedding, how do you feel about ivory with a gold stitching on the bodice? Because I'm all about gold and pink for the bridesmaid dress..."  
  
THE END  
  
**********  
  
Urgh, I had the most enormous trouble with this finishing chapter. So if it doesn't fill in any gaps, I'm sorry but I was so stuck and so ready to move on that I just had to put up what I'd got. I'm working hard on the new story, so please read and review.  
  
THANK YOU to every single person who has taken the time to review this story and all the support I've been given. I hope that you will be kind enough to review both this, and the sequel. 


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